Pivot In The Classroom

Since the launch of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One in September 2016, I have been honored to see so many people implement the Pivot Method to navigate life and career changes of all sizes and stages! While the book primarily focuses on pivots in the workplace, the Pivot mindset and four-stage Pivot Method has proven to be a great tool for the classroom as well.

Most recently, Pivot was selected as the course textbook and curriculum framework for Allison Kluger’s Stanford Graduate School of Business course, Strategic Pivoting, featuring former Yankees’ star Alex Rodriguez and Jenny as guest lecturers. The class was highlighted in a recent cover story profile of Alex for Sports Illustrated on his career reinvention:

This January, Rodriguez spent two weeks as a guest speaker in lecturer Allison Kluger’s class on strategic pivoting and reputation management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. “From crisis comes a decisive moment,” says Kluger. “You can make the moment work for you, or you can crawl into a hole and wait for something else to come. Alex didn’t wait.” Acknowledging his failures, it turns out, and elucidating their lessons, was enough to get him to Stanford.

Pivot has been applied across a variety of high school, college, and graduate programs, as the structure of the book and four-step process lend themselves well to a 10-12 week curriculum—particularly for planning professional (And personal) life after graduation. 

The case studies illustrate Pivot in action, and can hopefully inspire other like-minded educators! We’re grateful for these innovative professors who have been generous enough to share their materials and syllabuses.