Berlin When Dorie Clark is not currently advising corporations such as Google, Microsoft, the World Bank or Morgan Stanley or giving lectures at Yale University and Harvard Business School, she is pursuing another passion: the New York native has also been practicing as a musical Author, she says in the Handelsblatt interview.
Clark lives by a credo that has made her famous around the world: Nobody should ever stand still – and everyone should reinvent themselves regularly. For her, reinventing oneself is the key skill that is needed to survive in the working world of the future.
But how do you keep evolving without wearing yourself out? And why does that have to be? The 44-year-old bestselling author explains this in an interview.
War in Ukraine, pandemic, waves of layoffs: Has there ever been a time with more upheaval, Ms. Clark?
Of course, the speed at which things are changing today has increased. To be honest, I would find it a little narcissistic to say that the changes in the world are hitting us harder than any previous generation. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as special in that regard. Dealing with upheavals has always been difficult – for everyone.
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And how do we prepare ourselves for the changes in the world of work?
I think the most important question that professionals have to ask themselves today is: How much desire do I have to take responsibility for my life? We are on the way to an age of radical personal responsibility. We can choose who we want to be. It has never been easier to educate yourself, to learn new things, to adapt to different conditions. The internet gives us more opportunities to evolve than ever before.
For some, this responsibility may seem like a burden.
Clear. When I’m invited to company talks, the employees often ask me: “What’s the best way to climb the career ladder?” I have to tell them that things don’t work the way they did ten or twenty years ago. Back then, people started their jobs with the expectation that if they did their job reasonably well, they would more or less climb the ladder. Like in an elevator that automatically transported you up over time.
But guess what? The elevator was switched off. Now people are standing in front of a huge stairwell that has dozens of different branches. You have to constantly decide which ones to take – and then go up yourself.
What happens to those who stay below?
That too is a decision. But a very defensive one that I don’t think will make these people happy. There are people in the professional world who say to themselves: “If I just remain as inconspicuous as possible and do everything as I always have, I might not have to take part in all these upheavals.” Anyone who thinks like that will be unhappy.
How so? Perhaps such people are simply not interested in getting out of their comfort zone.
No, they certainly haven’t. But this mindset is very passive and eventually leads to a feeling of powerlessness. And there are many studies that show: The most important factor for a fulfilling and happy life is the feeling of being in control. to be autonomous. So I hope that the majority of people will choose not to bury their heads in the sand when there is change around them.
You are considered a luminary in the field of “self-reinvention” – the reinvention of one’s own self. Sounds like a huge project. How do you do that?
Unfortunately, the term is often misunderstood. I don’t mean that you should transform yourself into a new person on a regular basis. Imagine how tiring it would be if you were constantly struggling through unfamiliar territory and never resting! It would be like falling into a torrent and having to struggle to keep your head above water. Nobody wants to live like that.
Then what do you mean by “self-reinvention”?
The small steps. The easiest ways to reinvent yourself are through subtle changes. If you approach it cleverly, you think: What am I doing at the moment? And where do I want or have to go? And then he looks for the similarities between these two areas.
Can you explain that with an example?
I once knew someone here in the USA who converted old train routes into bicycle paths, so-called rail trails, for a non-profit organization. The man loved his job. At some point, however, he would have had to move to another state for his employer – and he did not want to leave his homeland.
And then?
Then he and his wife fulfilled a long-held dream and opened a small hotel right next to one of the rail trails. He recruited all his contacts from his previous job as customers. They’re going on their cycling holidays with him today. What made him so successful: he combined his old job with a new task. A subtle change.
Nevertheless, many people may find it difficult to let go of the familiar – especially if they have been successful in doing so in the past.
I even understand that. I can imagine that there are many people in Germany who stick to certain jobs, projects or goals because they say to themselves: “I’ve made up my mind to do it, and now I have to do it.” Only that works in many cases it just doesn’t make sense.
In which cases, for example?
Whenever external circumstances change. If I successfully run a snack bar on a freeway and the freeway shuts down – then I can’t just carry on as before. Either I have to sell my takeaway or reinvent it or reopen it elsewhere. It’s no use whining or blaming the authorities who have closed the Autobahn. I just have to come to terms with the facts.
Do you have a tip on how to do this?
Be the type of person who cares more about facts than about ideologies. Ideologues only concern themselves with how they think the world should be. This leads to irrational behavior, political polarization, even wars. Anyone who manages to orient themselves to facts instead will notice: If the facts change, then my mindset changes too. And that’s great! Because then you don’t get stuck in the past – and you don’t cling to unrealistic ideas of how the world should be.
Ms. Clark, thank you very much for the interview.
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