Is a Crisis a Good Time to Change Lanes?

“Newman's first law: It is useless to put on your brakes when you're upside down.” 

Paul Newman, actor, race car driver, philanthropist

It’s hard to imagine during this strange and historic time in our lives what lies ahead for most of us. For many it will be a return to a “new” normal, involving adjustments to how we work at our business or jobs with a greater reliance on technology for everything from e-commerce to communicating and collaborating with our peers.

The old phrase “I’ll e-mail it to you so we can discuss” has been replaced with “I’ve sent you a Google doc to review in our Zoom call.”

This disruption in our lives will also mean for many individuals the need to figure out what’s next in their careers or jobs as businesses make difficult decisions about how they want to operate moving forward.

Three years ago, I experienced an unexpected disruption when my former employer went through a re-organization and my position was eliminated. It was a difficult time for me, but it forced me to ask myself the question: Is this a good time to change lanes?

Changing lanes isn’t always as easy as people think. As any NASCAR driver will tell you, make sure you pick the right moment and the right reason. They will also tell you that it’s pretty much impossible to win a race without ever changing lanes.

For me, changing lanes involved both staying in my car, but also learning how to drive it differently. I quickly learned that I couldn’t rely on company resources to get things done (I still miss my old IT folks) but it also gave me an opportunity to learn ways to perform my work with new tools and technology.

What else can you learn by changing lanes?

Even small changes can broaden your view – In most sports, changing your position even slightly can totally change your perspective. The view a quarterback has from the “shotgun” position enables him to see the defense in ways he simply can’t when he is lined up right behind center.

Think about what your career or job would be like if you could change one small thing in how you operate on a day to day basis. For example, what if you continued to work at home a couple of days a week rather than commuting to an office every day? In the “new normal” world employers are more likely to embrace this idea in ways that they might not have previously.

Changing lanes could help you avoid crashing – Nothing is more dangerous in a NASCAR race than a crash. Despite their ability to drive vehicles at incredibly high speeds, even the best drivers crash.

As the economy continues to face uncertain conditions, this is a good time to explore what’s next in your career before you crash. Unfortunately, many corporations are going to have to make painful decisions about their employees over the next year. Rather than ending up in a pile up, start looking at new opportunities that might help you avoid being wreckage on the course.

Slowing down isn’t a bad strategy – Even the best NASCAR drivers know that sometimes slowing down and creating space is the best way to win the race. If you’re unsure what to do next after losing your job or feeling unsettled in your current one, take some time to talk to other professional colleagues or even career coaches about where you want to be in the next three to five years. You will be amazed at how generous people will be when you simply ask them for their help and advice.

One of the biggest mistakes that I made in my career was probably being too focused on performing at a high level, and not spending enough time on developing new skills that would help me after I changed lanes.

Whether it were the technical skills I would need after my career was disrupted or personal passions that bring me joy, and help me focus, it would have been much easier for me to change lanes if I had slowed down instead of always racing at high speeds. Ask yourself, is there an online class that might help me grow personally or professionally? If so, make time for it now.

Finally, remember that in the “new normal” the course will be forever changed. This is a good time to look around and figure out what industries will emerge and grow in unexpected ways over the next couple of years, and which ones probably will not survive.

If history has taught us anything, it is that these seismic shifts create incredible and rewarding opportunities for anyone who embraces new ideas and is willing to change lanes.