Curve Balls: Life is Baseball

The universe works in mysterious ways.  Despite the wishes, desires, and hard work of many individuals, sometimes there is a curve ball.  This curve ball is just when an individual has it all figured out and that person is on a course towards a certain action. These curve balls happen all the time in life and can be good and bad.  They also happen in our professional lives.

A few months ago, my son was deciding what to do about his upcoming college decision. Where he would be attending college depended on the outcome of so many factors. He had his top choice, but after that the options were shaky. Being a good mother and the eternal workforce development professional, I encouraged him to take making his backup plan more seriously. He made the statement “Plan B’s are for those not confident in their Plan A. I will worry about that when I need to.”  I applauded his confidence in himself, but was concerned that there were so many factors besides admission that would end up in the final decision. As the universe would have it, he needed a Plan B. Plan A did not work out for him and suddenly he needed an alternative.

Fast forward in time. Having worked in workforce development, I see people daily that do not necessarily get what they want. From customers to colleagues, I have witnessed the disappointment of defeat and the rise from the ashes for others. Many of the customers that visit my One-Stop are single mothers. They have already struggled to find quality and affordable child care and think that they are all set.  They are encouraged to have a backup plan “just in case.” What should they do when school is not in session, the planned baby sitter gets sick, or the child care center is no longer in business?  Staff encourage the customers to come up with a backup plan. Many do not have one and find themselves not able to pursue an employment or education goal because of child care.

On another level, there may be times in any person’s life, workforce development professional or other professional, where the outcome was not as expected. Maybe you lost your job? Maybe you didn’t get that big promotion? Maybe you can’t attend the number one choice for college? Life will continue to throw curve balls.  It appears that life is one big baseball game, but it is not the unfortunate and unplanned life event that will dictate a person’s professional future, rather the reaction.

These are the times to step back for a moment and think. First, a person needs to determine if the original goal is still the goal.  Based on the unplanned events, do you still want to attend that college or do you still want to work in that industry/position?  Second, ask thought provoking questions. Why that particular goal? I learned recently about a technique Toyota uses to solve problems.  In this technique, “why” is asked five times to get to the root cause. Find a trusted professional mentor to help you with this process of question and answer. The more thinking the better. Thirdly, determine if the old goal is the goal or if there is a new goal. Finally, create a new map. How can you get to either the brand new goal or the new and improved original goal?   

I think that workforce development is an industry of Plan B’s.  Many of the people that come to our doorstep are there because the job that they had for 20 years disappeared or suddenly they found themselves in a new life’s circumstance that required an alternative life vision.  As workforce development professionals, we celebrate success stories. Let us not forget that sometimes the alternative is the best and most exciting baseball game of all.

Have you ever had to make a Plan B? How do you coach someone to make an alternative plan? If anyone has any questions, comments, ideas, or tips to share, please comment below. ~Karen Cirincione- kcirincione@gmail.com.