So drawing on this idea of serendipity - happy coincidence - we will take a look at Krumboltz's Social Learning Theory; an optimistic theory more commonly known as planned happenstance, and how serendipity or luck (inkson et al., 2015; Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1984) can open and create career paths for us.
Planned happenstance has been defined as how our "personalities and behavioral repertoires" which we "possess arise primarily from [our] unique learning experiences" (Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1984, p. 235). Our "learning experiences consist of contact with and cognitive analysis of positively and negatively reinforcing events" (p. 235). We are active in the process, as "intelligent, problem-solving individuals who strive at all times to understand" (p. 235) our environment, and who try to "control [our] environments to suit [our] own purposes and needs" (p. 236).
We can improve our chances of controlling our environment by preparing ourselves, by skill-building. The happenstance skills we can develop include: resilience; being open; seeking opportunity; curiosity; openness to risk-taking; and openness to making mistakes. These happenstance skills help us to prepare for uncertainty and ambiguity (Staunton, 2015), making a difference in how we approach our career. For example, when we created virtual workplace solutions during Covid-19, our resilience increased. While we cannot plan or control global events, our ability to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity can can be prepared for.
Further, as opportunities arise, we can encourage ourselves - or others - to take decisions, and to make changes, to match our stage of development and comfort (Careers New Zealand, 2016). I think the best thing is that, as we take decisions and make change, we grow more confident in our abilities to make these calls. We can become more open to risk because we have risked and the world hasn't ended; we have grown our self-efficacy (Inkson et al., 2015); intersecting with the work of Carol Dweck (2006) on fixed and growth mindsets.
Planned happenstance acknowledges environmental conditions and our innately human qualities, which other career theories seem to ignore, and emphases three types of learning: instrumental (learning reinforced by associative reward - praise - or dissociative punishment - ridicule); association (learning by "positive stimuli, such as enjoyable medical TV dramas are paired with more neutral stimuli, such as hospitals, possibly inducing interest in careers in the health sector"; Inkson et al., 2015, p. 116); and vicarious (learning via role models; Inkson et al., 2015).
Krumboltz theory allows us to not need have all the answers, but to be free to consider developing opportunities. We can be active, in opposition to “if [we] do nothing, nothing's gonna happen" (Piazzale, 2009, 4:45). Our doing something less than ideal is simply 'trying', or 'practice'; it is not 'wrong'. Planned happenstance removes the judgement often associated with change.
And that is a good thing.
Helen, Daniela, Emma & Sam
References:
Careers New Zealand. (2016). Career theory models: Krumboltz’s theory. https://www.careers.govt.nz/resources/career-practice/career-theory-models/krumboltzs-theory/
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Baltimore Books.
Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Mitchell, L. K., & Krumboltz, J. D. (1984). Chapter 9: Social Learning Approach to Career Decision Making: Krumboltz’s Theory. In L. Brooks, D. Brown (Eds.), Career Choice and Development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (pp. 235-280). Jossey-Bass.
Piazzale, S. (2009, September 17). John Krumboltz, Luck Is No Accident (Part 3 of 3) [video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/DGHU2zmcy6M
Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol XV Ser-Soosy). Clarendon Press.
Staunton, T. (2015, March 21). Planned Happenstance planned Theory – Theories Every Careers Adviser Should Know. Running in a Forest. https://runninginaforest.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/john-krumboltz-planned-happenstance-plannetheory-theories-every-careers-adviser-should-know/
* Helen Netshidzivhani, Daniela McKeown and Emma Walker have kindly prepared much of the material used in this post. I have mashed it up, and connected it :-)
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