Reid Hoffman ABZ Career Strategy Audit
Evaluate your career trajectory using the Reid Hoffman career strategy audit framework to balance current growth, adjacent pivots, and safety nets.
5 time blocks, 60 minutes in total.
Time blocks
- Asset and Network Inventory: 15 min
List soft skills, technical assets, and key network relationships - Market Realities Alignment: 10 min
Compare personal aspirations against paid market demand - Plan A Performance and Iteration: 10 min
Identify small tweaks to increase learning in your current role - Plan B Adjacent Pivots: 15 min
Outline two adjacent career pivots using current core skills - Plan Z Floor and Runway Calculation: 10 min
Calculate financial runway and identify zero-risk fallback options
About this routine
In the book The Start-up of You, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha present an adaptive framework for managing professional life as if running a startup. The Reid Hoffman career strategy audit uses three distinct scenarios called Plan A, Plan B, and Plan Z to help professionals adapt to changing markets without taking reckless risks.
Plan A represents your current career trajectory and the immediate experiments you make to grow within it. Plan B consists of adjacent opportunities you can switch to if Plan A stalls or if a better path emerges. Plan Z is your safety net, the fallback plan that keeps you financially stable if everything else fails, giving you the confidence to take smart risks in Plan A and Plan B.
Running this audit quarterly forces you to evaluate three core factors: your assets, your aspirations, and current market realities. By mapping all three plans alongside these factors, you maintain strategic flexibility and avoid career stagnation.
Why this routine works
- Clarifies current professional competitive advantages.
- Identifies flexible pivot options before career dead ends occur.
- Establishes a concrete safety net to reduce career risk taking anxiety.
FAQ
What is Reid Hoffman's ABZ planning framework?
ABZ planning is a career strategy created by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. Plan A is your current job and growth trajectory, Plan B is an adjacent pivot if conditions change, and Plan Z is a safety net that protects you if plans fail.
How often should you run an ABZ career audit?
Hoffman recommends reviewing your ABZ career strategy annually or during major career transitions, with lighter quarterly check ins to adjust Plan A experiments.
What is the difference between Plan B and Plan Z?
Plan B is a proactive pivot to an adjacent role or industry when new opportunities arise. Plan Z is a defensive safety net, such as living on savings or taking temporary work, that prevents career ruin.