In business a pivot means fundamentally changing the direction of a business when you realize the current products or services aren’t meeting the needs of the market. Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
Individuals can pivot, too. We all know people who have left one job for another, or someone who went back to school to pursue a new career. When we are dissatisfied with a situation, we make a change.
Before we make a change, we talk to coaches, family members, friends, or other people whose advice we respect. We avail ourselves of their experience and their knowledge.
There are business coaches and there are life coaches. Business coaches will work with you on financial matters, management issues and general structural complexities. A life coach will focus on interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, communication and performance.
A few very recognizable companies began with one focus and became successful in another focus following their pivot. A successful pivot is the result of good timing, good decision-making, and effective execution.
Starbucks hasn’t always been the fresh-brewed coffee purveyor to the masses that we know today. It started out selling espresso makers and coffee beans. Wrigley didn’t always sell gum. In fact, William Wrigley, Jr. stumbled on the value of gum while giving it away for free. Today the company grosses billions in revenue.
A good coach will tell you not to lock yourself in too emotionally to whatever it is you are doing. Always be prepared to change, to pivot, when the marketplace tells you it’s time. You probably remember the classic question propounded by Theodore Levitt to the railroads: What business are you in? Here is how Mr. Levitt wrote about it for the Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2006/10/what-business-are-you-in-classic-advice-from-theodore-levitt.
In the rapidly changing times in which we live it is wise to consult with an advisor, a coach, who possesses a vision of the future born of experiences from the past.