Week 5/ Synchronicity Article

After reading Guindon’s and Hanna’s article (2002), I was able to make connections between the article and class on September 25^th. Guindon and Hanna (2002) begin by contrasting modernism and postmodernism.  Modernism highlights a set reality, collective truths, and linear cause and effect (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). In class, we discussed the Modernist Trait-Factor Approach, more specifically, the Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment. The MTWA’s linear model examines why people remain at a job by examining the worker’s satisfaction and the work environment’s satisfactoriness (Brown, 2012). In contrast, postmodernism proposes that holistic, contextual, and nonlinear approaches are more realistic (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). To explore synchronicity through the lens of postmodernism, Guindon and Hanna (2002) used Jung’s definition of synchronicity - a significant coincidence at a certain time, linking two or more experiences (thought/ feeling and event).

I was also able to connect the idea of synchronicity to Ms. Joan Blades’ presentation on September 25^th. Blades (2013) explained the situation in which MoveOn.org was developed, as a coincidence of “being in the right place at the right time.” When Blades (2013) sent a brief presidential comment to a few contacts, the comment was forwarded across America. Had she sent the email to different people on a different day, would she have still discovered MoveOn.org? She may never know the answer to this question, but the conditions were right to act on her discovery at that given moment to promote a second order change, the reorganization of a person, way of life, or way of interpreting the world (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). In this case, this coincidence changed the way Blades interpreted the world. She saw the comment go viral and may have thought, “How can I utilize this idea?”

I support the holistic ideas of postmodernism, but was a bit skeptical about synchronicity as a reliable aid for career development. Although backed up by religious, scientific, and psychological constructs, we cannot rely on coincidence, happenstance, serendipity, fate, or the hand of God to make career decisions. I believe we must be active in the career development process rather than passive, waiting for a transcendental occurrence.

Guindon and Hanna (2002) were able to clarify some of my concerns, stating that career counselors should integrate the “more objective indicators of interests, skills, values, needs, and personality with the subjective, transcendent, and spiritual dimension.” Career counselors create a solid foundation by identifying transferable skills, “unblocking” thoughts, and releasing self-limitations (through modernist techniques/assessments), building upon that foundation with the development of self-awareness and openness to synchronicity (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). When counselors combine these traditional and nontraditional interventions to support the client’s goals, the client can clarify an authentic identity and understand transcendental coincidences in “aha!” moments of clarity (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). Guindon and Hanna (2002) state, “rather than seeing chance events as random and meaningless, synchronicity provides a framework for understanding and working with such phenomena when they occur,” meaning that coincidences occur every day, but it is the knowledgeable individual that can detect and utilize their significance.

Blades, J. (2013, September). The Second Annual Innovator in Residence. Lecture conducted from Millersville University, Millersville, PA.

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Guindon, M. H., & Hanna, F. J. (2002). Coincidence, happenstance, serendipity, fate, or the hand of God: Case studies in synchronicity. Career Development Quarterly, 50(3), 195-208.