Adapt or Die: 7 Rules of Any Transition
“Yeah, but Mike, I hate the part where I suck.”
This came from a conversation with a friend who recently took on a challenging new role.
She’s no lightweight — quite the opposite. She’s an inspiring leader. A high-caliber operator. A total killer with a proven track record who will battle her way to success in any scenario.
And still, it’s the natural human response when we stretch ourselves. Once we’re past the initial excitement, the negative thoughts and feelings come rushing in.
Discomfort. Awkwardness. Imposter syndrome.
Fumbling like an amateur, wondering why your years of accumulated wisdom suddenly feel useless.
Fear that you made a horrible mistake.
I’ve gone through more transitions than I can count. I’ve changed partners, jobs, careers, and creative pursuits. Every one of those transitions comes with a mandatory period of “suck.”
You don’t have a network.
You need GPS to get anywhere.
It takes forever to complete basic tasks.
You feel like you’re terrible (and in truth, you might be).
Every time I’ve gone through one of these transition periods, I think of one of my favorite scenes in the movie Moneyball.
Brad Pitt (playing Billy Beane, former GM of the Oakland A’s) is changing the direction of the franchise and arguing with his (soon to be former) head baseball scout. After listening to an earful of reasons why his innovative plans won’t work, Pitt claps his hands and says three simple words:
“Adapt or die.”
When you take a risk and embark on a new challenge, it’s that simple. You figure it out. Or you don’t. It’s unlikely that you’ll literally die, but the fear of failure can make the stakes feel similar.
Here are 7 rules to help you navigate any transition.
What got you here won’t get you there. A common saying in the tech start-up world: “What got us from 0 to 1 isn’t going to get us from 1 to 10.” Your accumulated wisdom might not be useless, but you can’t rely on what you’ve done before to be successful now. Evolution is key.
You’re a beginner again — act accordingly. You know that part when you suck? Getting outside of your comfort zone and learning something new is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Anybody who’s trained jiu jitsu or learned guitar or written a novel will tell you — the front end is beyond uncomfortable. But the journey is the reward. The destination becomes irrelevant. You’ll get there the same way you get anywhere — one step at a time.
The lonely chapter is real. You’ll feel lost in a new gig. You’ll ask yourself why the hell you thought it was a good idea to stretch yourself. To start the business. To leave the corporate job. To take the leap. There’s one way out, and it’s through. The lonely chapter is just that — one chapter in a long novel. This too shall pass.
The system doesn’t care about you. New job? A week of onboarding and you’re flailing in the deep end. Launched your new company? 12 page visits in your first week. The world isn’t going to pay attention until you’re giving them something they can’t ignore. How do you build that when nobody seems to give a damn? Work every day. Keep showing up. Learn from your mistakes and keep honing your craft.
The slow die first. Hesitation, nostalgia, and comfort zones are death traps. Speed matters. Make a decision — even if it’s your best directional guess, decide and step forward. Then attack every challenge that comes your way like it’s threatening your family.
Keep the main thing the main thing. In any new endeavor, you’ll be stretched thin and undereducated. Training yourself to separate signal from noise takes time. So, in the beginning, it’s essential to keep it simple. Plug rabbit holes. Eliminate distractions. Do the work you’re avoiding — the work you know is important. Stay laser-focused on the main thing. You’ll learn the rest on the way.
There’s no such thing as the safe path. If you find yourself laying in bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking life would have been more stable if you just stayed where you were, remember: safety is an illusion. I love this quote by Jordan Peterson: “There’s no secure path forward. Give it up. It’s risk everywhere. ‘Oh no, that’s terrible,’ and it’s like, yes, except for two things: you can pick your risk, and second, you’re a lot tougher than you think.”
Sometimes, you’re not the one initiating the change. The company goes through a reorg. Layoffs hit. You’re thrust into the role of caregiver. No matter what the transition, they all require a shift in mindset.
Don’t cling to “the way things were” — see the new landscape for what it is.
Focus on the main thing — don’t get distracted by side missions.
Get comfortable making mistakes — as long as you learn from them, they’ll happen less often.
And don’t hesitate — if there’s no right time and no safe road, what is it that you’re waiting for, anyway?