The happenstance approach for creating a satisfying life and career

We have all heard the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It embodies the traditional matching model for career selection. You are supposed to identify your abilities and interests and then match them to a career that requires those characteristics. From this perspective choosing a future career direction appears to be a logical and deliberate process. You choose the appropriate career goal and then work to acquire the necessary education and training. People are viewed as incomplete until they declare their future occupation and begin to pursue it. Indecision and chance are frowned upon. We think this matching model is unrealistic and outmoded.

The matching model might make sense if people had stable characteristics that fit only one occupation. But this is not the case. People are multifaceted and continually changing. Occupational opportunities are continually changing too. Any given occupation includes people with diverse backgrounds, personalities and talents. The matching model doesn’t fit the reality of people’s lives nor the constantly changing economic climate. Few people end up being employed in a job that they chose through a logical matching process. Instead, they are constantly adapting their occupational activities as the result of a long chain of unplanned events.

The Happenstance Approach

John Krumboltz, Professor of Education and Psychology at Stanford University, has come up with a new model for explaining career development that he calls the “Happenstance Learning Theory.” Its central premise is that you learn to initiate actions which generate unplanned but beneficial events. Some of the key ideas are as follows:

• Always keep your career options open
• Continue learning as long as you live
• Make it your goal to enjoy a satisfying life
• Deliberately take actions to create unplanned events with unexpected outcomes
• Use mistakes as a good way of learning
• Use every job as a way of learning new skills

An excellent introduction to the happenstance approach can be found in the book, “Luck is No Accident,” by Krumboltz and Levin (2004). The book is practical, humorous and filled with lots of real life examples from people's lives.


Inspired2Work – Taking Advantage of Happenstance

The goal of Inspired2Work is to help people create more satisfying lives by taking advantage of happenstance events. We want to encourage people to look at their lives and careers in a new way by providing educational programs and materials. We want to encourage people to experiment, explore and have fun. We don’t think it is necessary or even desirable to declare your occupational goal in advance. The question should not be, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It is more beneficial to ask, “What would be fun and helpful to try next?” Here are some of the things we are working on:

• The creation of the Inspired2Work video library which will include thousands of inspiring and informative videos about different occupations.
• The Celebrating Work Internship Program, where we introduce students to established professionals who collaborate with them in the creation of new career videos.
• The Corporate and Educational Seminar Program where participants will learn more effective methods of using the happenstance approach for creating a satisfying life and career.