Stanford Graduate School of Business with Allison Kluger and Alex Rodriguez
The Course
For the past two years, 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, this two-week course allowed students to immerse themselves in the Pivot Method and hear first-hand the nature and experience of dynamic career pivots.
Because the course was for business-oriented graduate students, Professor Kluger structured the class specifically for those who already intended to pivot upon graduating: students who have outgrown their position or business, feel called to a new interest or professional area, or seek to make a strategic shift for reputation reasons.
As a two-week course, teaching the Pivot Method was much more of a sprint compared to the traditional months-long semester or trimester set-up. Students met for 6 days over the course of two weeks, for ~3 hours per class. Classes focused on covering the stages of the Pivot Method, sharing examples, and introducing activities to guide students with their own pivot plans.
At the end of the course, students pitched their pivot plans live at KMVT station—presenting who they are, why they are pivoting, their pilots, and financial runway summary. Evaluation was focused on strength of communication, business plan, and integration of Pivot Method concepts.
Sample Two-Week Syllabus
Session 1: Plant—Establish a foundation of values, strengths and interests.
Class Discussion & Activities:
What is a career plateau?
Introducing the Pivot Method at a high-level, and defining the plant stage
Taking stock of your strengths and values
Reverse engineering a pivot
Homework:
Write your 1-year vision
Create a mind-map of your values and priorities
Session 2: Scan—For people, skills, and projects that are compelling to you
Class Discussion & Activities:
Mentors and networking
Creating a public-facing platform to make yourself discoverable
Homework:
Share your pivot plan to 15 friends and family
Set up 2-3 friendtor or networking calls
Session 3: Pilot, Part 1—Generating Ideas, Small Experiments, and Gathering Data
Class Discussion & Activities:
What makes a good pilot? The three Es.
Share real-world examples of pilots
How to start piloting
Homework:
Start practicing the narrative of your pivot pitch
Schedule an interview with someone who pivoted in the career/industry you’re interested in
Session 4: Pilot, Part 2—Beginning to Launch
Class Discussion & Activities:
Piloting as a continuous process
Navigating failure
The benchmarks for when to launch
Homework:
Continue working on previous assignments
Identify three outfits to wear on-air
Session 5: Pitch Prep & Media Training Workshop
Class Discussion & Activities:
Mastermind group review of pitches
Media training & messaging
Visual brand consult
Homework:
Practice your pivot pitch
[Live Broadcast of Pivot Pitches]
Session 6: Synthesis and Moving Forward
Class Lecture/Discussion:
Reviewing pitches and getting feedback
How to know when a launch works
Pivot as a continuous process
Homework:
Final paper
Inside the Classroom
For a peek inside the classroom, check out Alex Rodriguez’s Facebook Lives:
Strategic Pivoting at Stanford Ep. 4: Piloting Your Career Pivot
And here’s a recording of Pivot Pitch Night for a local Mountain View TV Station, where we each give the students feedback on their career pilots Shark Tank-style! You can see how each of the pitches mirror the Pivot Method framework.
You can also check out the student panel with Alex and Jenny, from our Spring 2020 class: