Soumitra Dutta discusses building careers with adaptability

Ask Soumitra Dutta, former dean of Oxford Said Business School, how best to plan a career‚ and he would say (in a manner no careers counsellor would dare put into print in a shiny brochure): plan for 20 per cent of your life․ The other 80 per cent will happen to you anyway‚ and what matters is not the quality of your intentions but the quality of your response․

His own life is exhibit A․ He didn't mean to wind up in a business school․ He came to France‚ because his wife had a job there․ He applied to one job, at INSEAD, got it and took it․ He didn't plan to be one of the world's leading authorities on innovation policy․ That emerged organically out of his research interests. He would not have guessed he'd lead three incredible business schools․ Every move was an opportunity‚ not a destination on the map he had drawn at twenty․

Soumitra Dutta, who's cofounder of the Portulans Institute, argues that serendipity is not evenly distributed‚ but more likely to happen to people who pay attention‚ who move toward uncertainty rather than away from it and who are surrounded by people keeping them honest enough by giving real advice․ "Do you even identify? Do you even see it? And sometimes moments happen you don't even see it. Do you see it? Do you actually have the courage to act? Because often you don't have the courage to act — you're scared of whatever happens. Do you have the guidance from your mentors, other people, to give you some suggestions because you don't have the answers yourself?"

"The general message we give students is: have your dream and pursue your dream․ The reality is that your dream changes with time․ What your dream was at 20 may not be your dream at 40‚ and may not be your dream at 60․ You have to be able to adapt," says Soumitra Dutta, who's an IIT Delhi alumnus and co-creator of the Network Readiness Index

This doesn't mean you gotta be passive. You need to be working hard‚ staying focused‚ and building skills․ However, you shouldn't get fixated on the destination.