Michael Watkins surveyed 1,350 human resources leaders in 2008 and reported that 90% agreed that “Transitions into new roles are the most challenging times in the professional lives of leaders.”
Michael Watkins, “The First 90 Days”.
One’s career in the architectural profession is full of transitions, learning, and growth. The transitions are not always as clear as a job title change or changing to a new company. There are multiple small transitions that can occur without one even noticing. However, there is a huge potential for your career trajectory if you can understand career transitions, avoid traps, and focus on acceleration principles.
Types of Transitions
First job upon graduation
This transition type is obvious, but not the smoothest ride. For the young professional there are three primary transition factors. First is adjusting from an academic studio culture to an office culture. Second is the steep learning curve that occurs during your first few years understanding all the facets and communication it takes for a project to go from ideas to a built structure. Third is the pressure of registration, logging hours, and taking exams. There is a lot to juggle and discover.
New company
Starting at a new company is an opportunity to reframe yourself professionally It is a time that one can take the lessons learned from a previous company and apply them to a new set of resources. However, this may also be a time where you feel that you need to prove your value to the new company. However, keep in mind it is best during this time to focus on the fact that on average it takes a mid-level leader hired from outside the company 6.2 months to reach a break-even point where one starts to create value.
New role within the same company
This is a new role with a formal title change. During this transition, it is likely that there will be a time where your actual roles are mixed between your old title and your new one. Often projects last multiple years so you may be in your previous role for a time if someone else doesn’t take over those tasks for the project; whereas with new projects coming in, you’ll have a role based on the new title and job description. This can be a difficult time for you and the professionals around you to rebalance tasks and expectations.
Transitions around you
You may not be going through a career transition but someone around you may be. Since architecture is team-based for their projects, it is likely a team member (or even consultant) is transitioning. If there is someone in a career transition on your project team, it is always good to review with the team any changes to roles because of it. They may scale back their hours and/or responsibilities on the project. It is important to communicate with the team if any changes will be occurring.
Hidden transitions
Hidden transitions will be the most often career move you will make. This is often, occurrence in architecture as you could have multiple projects with a different role in each one. Someone else may be going through a career transition leaving a gap of responsibility that you may now need to fill, but this does not mean your title/position in the company changes. These hidden transitions can also be a stepping-tone for you to grow into other roles and learn how to handle more responsibility for future projects. If you are going through a hidden transition, it is always recommended to have a conversation with your team or project manager/principal to understand the new challenge ahead and expectations. They will also be a great resource for answering questions along the way.
The Break-even Point
The break-even point is defined in the book as “the point where you have contributed as much value to the new organization as you have consumed from it.” There is a learning curve and adjustments with every type of career transition, and that takes time. The goal is to hit that point as fast as possible to strive forward.
Michael Watkins conducted a study wherein he interviewed over 200 company leadership professionals and asked them to estimate the time it takes for a typical mid-level leader to reach the break-even point. (regardless of promoted or outside hire) The average response was 6.2 months. Every situation is unique, and it depends on what the leader is walking into, but the case in point being that you are not at the break-even point the moment you step into that role. When you start a new role, you will be more of a consumer rather than a producer, constantly learning and adjusting.
Avoid Transition Traps
Why does it take some people longer than others to reach the break-even point? Watkins highlights 7 key traps that often occur when trying to transition to a new role.
Sticking with what you know
It is easy to continue doing the same as your previous role. What many people fail to see is that the new role means you need to stop doing some things and start some unfamiliar things.
Falling prey to the “action imperative”
Those that try too hard too quickly to put their stamp on something or a company. Often too busy to learn, creating resistance and sometimes poor decisions.
Setting unrealistic expectations
You do not establish clear achievable objectives to understand if you are meeting expectations from your company/team.
Attempting to do too much
This is attempting to tackle everything all at once. For instance, rushing to start multiple initiatives rather than focusing on key initiatives that align with achievable objectives. Rushing to start many initiatives can create confusion and result in resources being stretched too thin.
Coming in with “the” answer
When you come into a situation with your mind made up or reach conclusions too quickly. Choosing to believe you are the one while all the answers alienate those that could help you understand the bigger picture. It also creates failure of opportunities to develop supportive solutions.
Engaging in the wrong learning
Spending too much time learning about one area of the business and not the company. You can spend too much time learning about the technical part of the new role and not enough on the cultural and political sides. It is important to understand the whole picture.
Neglecting horizontal relationships
Spending too much time focusing on vertical relationships. Support and alliances come from all directions. A good leader understands the values of building relationships with bosses, peers, young professionals, and stakeholders. Failing to understand this will lead to missing early opportunities to build supportive networks.
Falling into these traps is rather easy. Have you fallen into some of these traps in your last transition? If you know that you will be transitioning to a new role you can take the time to review these traps to try and identify which one you are more likely to fall for. What makes architecture a unique profession is the number of role transitions or hidden transitions between projects.
It is important to understand your role on a project: is this a career transition for you, is someone on your team going through a transition, and what are the opportunities and traps that may lay ahead? Often there is no formal title change or raise associated with these, but they are still opportunities to grow and you are still trying to reach a break-even point with a new set of skills. What was the last project you were transitioning to more responsibility? What did you learn? Did you fall into any of the above traps? Did it lead to a more formal career transition?
Written by
Katelyn Rossier, AIA, LSSBB