Jungle gym career model

Increasing longevity and longer time to pension are putting the existing career models in danger: most of them are already obsolete vs the reality and the needs of talents in the working environment. New models and new expressions are spreading, much less engineered than the current ones: such, for example, jungle gym...

Jungle gym career is a way to define a career progression which is not linear. It has become popular in the past years as definition for careers that are difficult to describe and forecast as a predictable paths in which people move ahead or horizontally in order to reach a destination job or position.

Definition could come from Pattie Sellers, Editor-at-Large of Fortune Magazine, “The most successful people I know don’t think of their career as a ladder, but rather a jungle gym.” An interesting example of it is Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) “I could never have connected the dots from where I started to where I am today” (*): she worked as a management consultant for McKinsey than joined US Government as Chief of Staff of US Secretary of the Treasury and finally joined Google.

What are the implications of a jungle gym career model?

[**] the next move is not necessary upwards, infact, it could even be downward (and than upward again or not);

[**] flexibility is a must, both ways, from individual and employer;

[**] there is not just one career, there are multiple careers in a life time, on multiple subjects;

[**] work-life balance is different in different stages and times of life, it changes;

[**] learning and network are more important than earning and promotions;

[**] passion leads more than status;

Why it’s important?

Having to imagine 35-40 years long careers, usually in dual-career situations, the old models do not apply anymore to the vast majority of people: most of career models corporations, firms or institutions can offer do not fit this situation (think about P&G promise of the 90s to grow talents to Director position in 12 years… with current retirement timings, people would need three careers at least to have a sustainable work experience in lifetime)

Are we ready? It depends: many talents already are, GenY and women in particular. Corporations, firms and institutions? Governments? Mmmhh.