When was the last time you had a pattern interrupt?

I'm not talking about small shifts, like redecorating a room, a new role in the same company, or the resolutions we make at New Year. I'm talking about the kind of fundamental reset that comes when you move countries with nothing but a backpack, retrain in a completely new discipline, or step into a new sector entirely.

Pattern interrupts are powerful. They disrupt our habits and force us to see with fresh eyes.

A small example: the last time I moved house, I shoved an occasional chair into the lounge "just for now." Over the next few hours I kept walking past it in a new context, and I found myself thinking, "Why did I never see how perfectly this coordinates with this lounge furniture?"

That's disruption's gift. It helps us see what to keep, what to let go of, and what to combine in new ways.

The research backs this up on multiple levels. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2027, nearly a quarter of jobs will change, some disappearing, others emerging. In this shifting landscape, the ability to navigate transitions becomes crucial.

But here's what's fascinating: career transition research shows that professionals who make deliberate career pivots, rather than waiting for change to happen to them, report higher levels of career satisfaction and resilience. Dr Herminia Ibarra's research at INSEAD found that successful career changers don't plan their way into a new career; they act their way into thinking differently. They embrace what she calls 'small experiments', testing new identities and possibilities rather than overthinking the perfect next move.

Sometimes the boldest strategy is simply creating space for emergence.