Even Successful People Pivot

Not only when things are going wrong

Last week on Threads, Scott Belsky announced his departure from Adobe. If you don't know who Scott is, that's ok. The key point to know is that he has been CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) and CPO (Chief Product Officer) for the last 7 years at Adobe. He is the creator of Behance, which was sold to Adobe. He has written numerous books, most notably, The Messy Middle. While people come and go from companies in tech, they rarely pivot from a tech behemoth to an entertainment company that makes indie films.

Some of you might be thinking, why should I care about this super successful and super-rich person in tech, now film? Because it is a testament to pivoting—that it has no bounds. I have talked about pivoting careers in a previous edition. That edition still stands true, but I want to add something to it. Pivoting does not only happen when your current thing is not working.

Most people think that people and companies pivot only when things are not going as planned: the teacher that pivots due to low pay, the tech worker that burns out from overwork, or the business owner that cannot get the business over the financial hump to keep going. Sometimes people pivot because they want to or they feel it's time.

We have all seen the people that pivot to adjacent careers: the executive that becomes an investor, the analyst that becomes a product manager, or the personal assistant that becomes a chief of staff. But what if you are great at what you do, you excel at it, but you feel an itch to do something else, something starkly different? Sure, the successful people have the money and agency to take risks, but that doesn't mean it isn't a risk. A pivot can be just as scary for the failing or successful entrepreneur.

Personally, I have been in this position and it was scary. While I had some financial fluff to make it less stressful, the idea of doing something entirely different was a hard decision. Sometimes you just need to chase your next passion, dream, or goal. You can pivot at the top of your career. If you are feeling the draw to something else, if you are no longer feeling challenged, or if you just want to feel the rush of starting from the bottom—pivoting is always a viable choice.

This week's edition was shorter than usual, because it was an addition to a previous letter. How do you like this format? When a topic needs updating, do you think I should write an addition or something 100% new? Let me know in the comments or email me.