Beware of the Single Point of Failure in Your Career

Let’s start with a definition for a single point of failure.

In the words of Wikipedia, this is “a part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working. Single points of failure are undesirable in any system with a goal of high availability or reliability, be it a business practice, software application, or other industrial system.”

An example of this is to look at technology. You might experience downtime in the wake of power outages, appliance failures, software failures, maintenance windows, or application bottlenecks from improperly designed architectures. But this is about more than another software system. Think about it in the context of your career, or even your finances.

Suppose you work for a bank, met your marital partner there, have a mortgage with the institution, and stick all your bonuses into the company stock on an annual basis. Then imagine the bank runs into trouble or there’s an economic downturn. A bit extreme, right? A fair bit of concentration risk there. Well, that’s exactly what happened.

When the Royal Bank of Scotland came close to collapse during the global financial crisis, I heard stories of employees that faced the worst of all worlds. Redundancies for the husband and wife. Bonuses canceled. A share price in the gutter. Major life changes were forced upon them. Yes, this isn’t just a hypothetical idea. I worked for the organization back then. It happened. It was more than just a salutary tale. Some people’s careers are just too leveraged to one narrative.

That was more than a decade ago.

So why is this relevant today in 2021? Covid.

There will be plenty of individuals that have thrown everything into their career. They’ve done the courses, earned the qualifications, built a network that has taken them to where they are. Essentially, they invested all of their focus into making sure they progress along this one linear path.

That isn’t bad in and of itself. That’s how so many leaders make it to the top. It’s what career advisors have often taught us. Specialize. The trouble comes when this approach becomes too rigid. There’s a lack of adaptability. A lack of adaptability in the face of a changing world. And a lack of adaptability when all your eggs are in the same proverbial basket. Covid takes no prisoners.

So think about your career. If a worst-case scenario happens (and 2020 exemplified the possibility of that in spades), how will you be positioned? Do you have a Plan B? Or a Plan C?

Daily life gives us plenty of examples of where we go out of our way to make sure we have extra resources in case we need them. That’s what insurance is about. Or a spare tire. Or a phone charger. Think in a similar way with your career.

What can you do avoid having a single point of failure in your career?

Keep an Open Mind

This is about mindset. This is about thinking outside the box. Or even finding a new box entirely. Don’t get stuck into the narrow, dangerous thought process that your career is set for life. Be ready to adapt to change. So read widely and appreciate the impermanence of life. It can be a wake-up call. Get busy living or get busy dying.

Watch the Environment

We all like to forecast. But most of us aren’t very good at it. None of us have crystal balls. But we can still pick up the signs that could signal change simply by looking around us. it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, for example, to appreciate that the pandemic has changed the way we work. There are many consequences of Covid that are only now coming to the surface. Take note and look to adapt.

Network

Don’t wait until you need connections. Make sure you reach out to people both online and offline. And not just in your current field. Cast your net wide. You never know when you might need them.

Stay Relevant

You need to stay relevant in the workforce anyway. But today it’s even more important to make sure you upskill in a way that’s relevant to the new environment. So learn what you need to learn and then learn some more.

And you should also think about diversifying your skills beyond your current field in a way that may allow you to adapt to another. Maybe it’s time for a career pivot. This helps reduce the risk of a single point of failure.

Keep Cash

Life happens and for all your good intentions your job could disappear tomorrow.

Maybe you’ve been great at your job, have developed all the right skills, and have built a network to die for. Great. But then your company goes under. Indeed, life happens. You need to have some cash on hand to give you some breathing space. It’s time to manage your money.

At the very least you should have an emergency fund anyway. But in these challenging times maybe it’s worth building a bigger cushion than you would otherwise. Think as a bare minimum of at least six months’ worth of expenses. You don’t know whether your single point of failure will keep you out of work for longer than you would like.