Career Decisions and Rubik’s Cubes: A Philosophical Parallel
When you first pick up a Rubik’s Cube, the challenge seems overwhelming. Forty-three quintillion possible combinations, yet only one solution. Sound familiar? It’s remarkably similar to making a career decision.
The Illusion of Infinite Possibilities
Just as a scrambled Rubik’s Cube presents countless colour combinations, career choices can feel paralysing in their abundance. Every twist of the cube, like every career move, opens new possibilities while closing others. The graduate choosing their degree subject, the school leaver deciding between university and apprenticeships, the person considering a career or job-change pivot – all face what philosophers call the “paradox of choice.”
But here’s the philosophical twist: unlike the Rubik’s Cube with its singular solved state, careers don’t have one “correct” solution. Your solved cube might look entirely different from mine, and both can be equally valid.
The Algorithm vs. The Journey
Rubik’s Cube enthusiasts learn algorithms – sequences of moves that, when applied correctly, will eventually solve the puzzle. Career guidance has its own “algorithms”: labour market information, skills assessments, aptitude tests, values , interests, personality inventories.. These tools provide structure and methodology.
Yet the philosopher in us must ask: Does following an algorithm diminish the authenticity of the solution?
Not at all. Expert cube solvers don’t simply memorise moves – they understand the principles behind them. Similarly, effective career decision-making isn’t about following a rigid formula; it’s about understanding the principles of good decision-making while remaining responsive to your unique circumstances, values, and aspirations.
The Role of Pattern Recognition
Master cube solvers develop pattern recognition. They see not just individual colours, but relationships, sequences, and structures. This is precisely what experienced career development professionals bring to the table – the ability to recognise patterns across industries, transferable skills, emerging opportunities, and potential pathways that aren’t immediately obvious to the untrained eye.
When someone tells me “I’m stuck,” whether with a cube or a career, I often find they’re focusing too narrowly on their immediate position. Step back. Look at the whole picture. Sometimes progress means making moves that temporarily seem to create more disorder.
Multiple Routes to Mastery
Consider this: there are multiple methods to solve a Rubik’s Cube – the beginner’s method, the Fridrich method, the Roux method. Each valid, each with its own strengths. Career pathways work similarly. The traditional university route isn’t the only way to achieve professional success. Apprenticeships offer an equally valid algorithm – combining practical experience with structured learning, earning while learning, building networks within industry from day one.
Just as some cube solvers prefer learning through hands-on practice rather than theoretical study, apprenticeships recognise that mastery often comes through doing. The apprentice electrician, the degree apprentice in digital marketing, the higher apprentice in business administration – all are solving their career “cube” through a different but equally legitimate methodology.
Embracing Uncertainty
Here’s where the metaphor becomes most powerful: both puzzles require comfort with temporary chaos. To solve certain sections of a Rubik’s Cube, you must first scramble what you’ve already completed. Career development demands similar courage – the willingness to take apparent backward steps, to unlearn, to re-skill, to embrace uncertainty as part of the process.
The Stoic philosophers understood this. They taught us to focus on what we can control (our actions, our responses, our learning) rather than what we cannot (market conditions, technological disruption, global pandemics). You can’t control every twist of the cube, but you can control your next move.
The Human in the Loop
And this brings us to perhaps the most crucial point: AI can solve a Rubik’s Cube faster than any human. It can analyse labour market data, match skills to opportunities, and predict career trajectories with impressive accuracy. Tools like CiCi and FutureTrack (speciifically aimed at supporting Further Education and Sixth Form students) harness this power. To book a demo: https://cicichat.co.uk/book-a-demo/
But career decisions aren’t purely computational puzzles. They’re deeply human endeavours involving meaning, purpose, relationships, and values that can’t be reduced to algorithms alone. The future of career guidance isn’t AI replacing human expertise – it’s AI augmenting human wisdom, providing the data and patterns while professionals provide the context, empathy, and ethical framework.
The Beauty of Multiple Solutions
Perhaps the most liberating philosophical insight is this: while a Rubik’s Cube has one solved state, your career has many. The goal isn’t to find THE answer, but to make informed, authentic choices that align with who you are at this moment, while remaining adaptable to who you’re becoming.
So next time you’re facing a career crossroads, remember the Rubik’s Cube. Embrace the complexity. Trust in methodology while remaining open to creativity. Seek expert guidance. And above all, remember that every twist, every turn, every seeming setback is part of the pattern that eventually leads to your own unique solution.
