Is Entropy Eroding Your Career?


Gremlins, brownies, Loki, Murphy’s Law… When things do not go as planned people have many explanations for it.  Historically, there were many “gods of mischief” employed whenever things went awry, including the Roman goddess Discordia, China’s Monkey King, or the Navaho Wisakedjak (later known as “Whisky Jack”).  [Read more.]

However, we do not require a deity to explain the gradual subsidence of any ordered process (such as your career) toward chaos and inefficiency.  The fact is that, without further energy input, ordered systems tend to become more disordered over time—always.

Razor blades become dull even if you don’t use them.  Dust collects on the most polished surfaces.  People forget or fail to execute tasks on time or per their instructions.  And the result is that things do not always go as planned.

Let’s thank a 19th century physicist for giving the phenomenon a name.  Rudolph Clausius coined the term “entropy” in 1865 in the context of the second law of thermodynamics.  “A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spontaneously from hotter to colder regions of matter (or ‘downhill’ in terms of the temperature gradient).”  [See source.]  The same principle applies to any ordered system that tends to become more disordered over time until it reaches a state of equilibrium—unless new energy is added to overcome the force of entropy.

Really making progress in your career (and not just settling for what comes along) requires effort, clear-headed guidance, and a plan.

If you think about it, you can probably see this mischief-maker in your own career.  After all, one does not typically get ahead in business without putting in more energy—except perhaps in a musical comedy such as “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,” a satirical romp from 1961 that follows J. Pierpont Finch as he climbs “the corporate ladder from lowly window washer to high-powered executive.” [Read more.] 

But that’s just a fairy tale.  Really making progress in your career (and not just settling for what comes along) requires effort, clear-headed guidance, and a plan—exactly the service that The Barrett Group (TBG) has been providing to executives now for more than 30 years.  Here’s how one TBG client, Matt Fretwell, described his experience:

The Barrett Group really exceeded my initial expectations. I thought I’d just need their help locating a good fit at the income level I was seeking. I didn’t expect to need help in personality assessment, but I was fooling myself. My coach […] really challenged me to be honest and transparent about my values and goals. […] Sometimes it is beneficial for us to swallow our pride and recognize that we need a fresh set of eyes to look at our situation.

Then Matt and his coach worked together to identify goals that align with Matt’s talents and values and create a long-term personal strategic plan. 

It was eye-opening. You think you know yourself, but I learned that I have some deep-seated values that I was pushing away. This was partly why I was burning out. [Matt Fretwell, Read More.]

You see, career change success requires so much more than simply a new resume.  TBG takes the time to help clients really see themselves clearly during the Clarity Program©, the initial targeting step, to understand why they may be dissatisfied or burned out in their current roles.

The Clarity Program was a real eyeopener for me, especially the DISC profile exercise […] It was the scariest experience in my life to answer 24 questions and have it yield a 20-page analytical report about my skills and personality that was spot on! The report included what other people say about me. It wasn’t all positive, but it also made me better understand why my last job failed.  [Peter Witke, Read More.]

Other executives get stuck in their careers because, after 5 or 10 years at the same firm, they have no idea how to look for a job anymore.  The market seems so complicated and monolithic.  Headhunters have stopped calling.  On-line ads leave them frustrated due to a total lack of response. 

If your career is no longer living up to your expectations, it’s time to exert a little energy and combat entropy’s creeping erosion. 

Nevertheless, literally more than 500,000 executive positions change hands every year just in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.  [Read A World of Executive Opportunity.]  However, most of these positions are not visible to mere mortals. They require the sagacity of a minor deity to discover—unless you hire TBG. In this case, the rich “unpublished market” becomes far more accessible.  In fact, fully 75% of our clients land their positions in this lively market segment. It has the added benefit of allowing them often to customize their own position profiles and pay packages.  [Read So How Does the Unpublished Market Actually Work?]

After refocusing her efforts on the unpublished market and finding success, another client summarized her TBG experience as follows:

TBG has transformed me as an executive! TBG’s program is delivered in an authentic way for a professional at my level. None of it felt transactional. And everything I learned will be long-term lessons for myself. This experience has been life changing! [Read Angela’s story.]

Sure, you can continue to rage against the gremlins, rant about Murphy’s Law, or find someone else to blame. But if your career is no longer living up to your expectations, then it’s time to exert a little energy and combat entropy’s creeping erosion.  As long as you are putting in effort, shouldn’t you also be smart and hire experts in executive career change? The Barrett Group has been at it now for more than three decades. We have helped thousands of execs exceed their own expectations, and we have been recognized repeatedly by Forbes as one of the best in the business.

Don’t leave your professional trajectory to the whims of the Monkey King or perfidious chance.  Take control of your own career.  Call The Barrett Group.

 

Peter Irish, Chairman
The Barrett Group

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