I played basketball for one year in seventh grade. (To be truly accurate, I played in A Basketball Game for 10 minutes or so in my seventh grade year.) So when my husband told me that the business buzzword of 2014 would be "pivot," the first thing that came to mind was Ms. Mitchell, my junior high basketball coach, yelling from the sidelines, "Pivot! Pivot!"
Pivot. "To spin about a central point." It sounds jargony. And lingotastic. And just vague enough/specific enough to have all the right qualities for a good buzzword.
And the more I think about it, the more I like what pivot stands for:
-to be both rooted and moving
-to have a core, an anchoring point, and yet always searching for new opportunities
-to seek out team players
To pivot means you're in a good position, but you are rotating to find a new perspective. To pivot is to see the same spot from many points of view. I am blessed in so many ways, and I feel centered (Usually! For the most part!) by these blessings. But like most folks, I could use a fresh perspective. I could be both rooted and rotating. I could seek out exciting new ways to do what I love, to search for avenues of improvement, to scan my surroundings and be AWARE.
I could pivot.
How about you? Care to share your word for 2014?
6 comments:
Good choice! I once heard someone say, "A sentence should pivot around a strong verb, like pivot." Wish I could remember who it was...
Tracy, great point! It is a strong, anchoring word. I think it'll serve me well. :-) Thanks for the comment.
Good word....I like the description, "to be both rooted and moving."
My word, I guess, would be "opt." No, wait..."act." Because you don't really do anything if you opt then don't act. So, "act." Hmmm, but if you just act without choosing from the best option it may not be in your best interest. So, "opt," because if I don't opt for one of these words, we will be here all night.
Pat, you have just described every single attempt to narrow down The Word, every single year. :-) I've been doing this for 4 years now (I think). Pivot was one of the easier choices, because it's such a strong image, I think. I'm afraid I can't help you choose between "opt" and "act" - I like them both! :-) Thanks for the comment!
I like this. My tendency is, I think, to pivot a little too much and try to take charge of whatever comes into my view. :) So this year, I went with Staying Open (two words are allowed, right?), which I'm taking as sort of acknowledging and identifying what comes along (while I DO go after the things I want!) and then working with what I get.
Here's to a great 2014!
Becky, two words are absolutely allowed! That's all part of pivoting and staying open, right? ;-) Thank you for the comment. Happy 2014!
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