Mastering Change with the P.I.V.O.T. Method – An Interview with Change Strategist, Khutso Madubanya
- 11 hours ago
- 6 min read
Dr. Khutso Madubanya’s work centers on helping people navigate uncertainty and change. Through her P.I.V.O.T.™ method, she provides practical tools to adapt and thrive during transitions. Whether it’s dealing with personal shifts or organizational challenges, Dr. Madubanya’s approach empowers individuals and organizations to embrace change with confidence and clarity. Her unique perspective combines lived experience with academic insight to offer actionable solutions in times of disruption.
Dr. Khutso Madubanya, Founder & Change Strategist
Who is Dr. Khutso Madubanya?
I was born and raised in South Africa and have quite literally made a home out of the world. I have lived in eight countries and countless cities, so I have mastered the art of belonging everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I often describe myself as a unicorn because I have never quite fit society’s molds, especially professionally.
Alongside zig-zagging the globe, I have zig-zagged professionally – reinventing myself across multiple careers and industries, including nonprofit, government, academia, and corporate. Most importantly, I am a mom to three beautiful children, including a set of twins.
What inspired you to start Dance With Change™?
The short answer is: the zig-zagging.
For much of my life, I actively sought change. In my younger years especially, every six months or so I felt an itch to move to a new country or city, always hungry for new experiences. As I got older and had children, that impulse naturally slowed. What became clearer, however, was that not everyone experiences change as comfortably or as willingly as I do.
About four years ago, I went through what I now call my tsunami. I made yet another international relocation, this time moving from South Africa to Michigan, USA, with my children after an unexpected breakup with their stepfather. We arrived completely unaware of what lay ahead.
Within weeks, while still reeling from the emotional shock and the cross-continental move, I suddenly lost my job. That single moment triggered an involuntary career pivot. Simultaneously, an unrelated excruciating legal case ensued, and I needed to complete my doctoral studies, all while helping my children acclimate to a foreign country with absolutely no support system. I knew nobody in the town we had moved to.
Navigating that season taught me something profound: unwanted change becomes significantly harder when we fight it. As people began asking me how I survived that period, I realized that what carried me through was not just resilience. It was a series of very specific mental conversations I had with myself during the tsunami. In hindsight, I recognized that those conversations closely aligned with what I had studied in my doctoral research on sensemaking – how people make meaning before they decide how to act, especially during disruption, identity shifts, and uncertainty.
Those internal conversations are at the heart of my framework, P.I.V.O.T.™ Today, I teach this work globally through keynote talks, executive presentations, and interactive training workshops designed to help individuals and organizations move through transitions with less fear, less overwhelm, and more adaptability. I share the personal story behind this work in my mini‑memoir, No More Free Passes, which I released as a precursor to my larger body of work, Dancing With Change™.
How do you define “dancing with change,” and why does it matter today?
Dance is a metaphor I use to describe a healthier response to change and disruption. When you dance, you don’t push against the music or fight your partner. You move with them. Similarly, when you dance with change, you don’t antagonize it; you move with it. It’s the difference between agility and wrestling.
Change is the only constant, both professionally and personally. In today’s fast‑paced, highly volatile workplaces, adaptability has become a core currency. Artificial intelligence, in particular, is placing unprecedented pressure on individuals and organizations to adapt quickly or risk falling behind.
One executive I interviewed for my second book, Dancing With Change, shared that his manager’s lack of adaptability had cost the organization millions. He said he would gladly pay to help leaders become less averse to change.
At a personal level, life is equally unpredictable. We lose loved ones. We lose jobs. We face unexpected health issues and forced transitions. Since change is inevitable, learning how to move with it rather than resist it can make it far less painful.
What’s the biggest transformation you help your clients achieve?
I help people feel anchored during uncertainty. My work equips individuals and teams with practical mindset tools they can use in real time – while change is actively unfolding – so they feel more grounded, capable, and self‑trusting rather than fearful or overwhelmed.
Can you explain your P.I.V.O.T.™ Method in simple terms?
The P.I.V.O.T.™ Method captures the mindset tools I’ve described. Each letter represents a mental recalibration people can apply through the conversations they have with themselves during moments of disruption.
PAUSE interrupts the fight‑or‑flight response.
INTROSPECT helps people navigate identity shifts.
VECTOR reconnects them with transferable strengths.
OVERCOME softens perfectionism and fear of judgment.
TRAVEL FORWARD redirects energy toward what lies ahead.
Together, these shifts help people regain agency and momentum without needing certainty or perfection. It helps them adapt easier.
What fears do people most often face when dealing with change?
The most common fears align directly with the P.I.V.O.T.™ framework:
Panic, as the mind rushes into fight-or-flight and imagines worst-case scenarios (addressed by PAUSE).
Identity threat – the fear of losing who we believe we are (addressed by INTROSPECT).
Incapacitation – the belief that we don’t know enough and may not be able to learn what’s required (addressed by VECTOR).
Ridicule – the fear of making mistakes and being judged or exposed as incompetent (addressed by OVERCOME).
Becoming stuck in the past, immobilized by loss or nostalgia (addressed by TRAVEL FORWARD).
How do your personal life experiences shape the way you design and deliver your work?
I don’t just teach P.I.V.O.T. – I live it. I was recently laid off unexpectedly from my corporate marketing role, and once again, I found myself leaning on every component of the framework.
Looking back, I realize I have unconsciously applied these principles throughout my life, long before they became a formal framework. P.I.V.O.T. is my default adaptability formula, and I continue to deepen it as life presents new challenges – opportunities for me to practice it myself.
For example, in dealing with the shock of my layoff, I caught myself revisiting a simple reset cue I learned years ago from Dr. Joe Dispenza. When shock triggers a negative spiral, I quietly say the word “change.” That single word helps interrupt the cycle and deepens my PAUSE.
This lived experience, combined with my academic training, allows me to translate complex ideas into accessible, human tools that resonate across cultures and contexts.
What outcomes can audiences and organizations expect from your work?
Audiences can expect to leave with a fundamentally different relationship to change. Broadly speaking, they walk away feeling more empowered to face uncertainty – no matter what form it takes.
Many participants share that fear had been holding them back from pursuing goals or making necessary changes. My work helps ease that fear in real time.
Audiences also leave with a simple, memorable tool they can apply across all areas of life. P.I.V.O.T.™ doesn’t require overhauling routines or adding more to already-full plates. It works internally, in the moment, while change is actively unfolding.
Beyond keynote talks and presentations, my work is expanding into facilitated workshops, leadership training programs, and soon coaching and courses designed to support sustained adaptability and growth.
How does your work help both individuals and organizations navigate uncertainty?
I help people anchor themselves during change by redirecting their internal dialogue toward conversations that restore agency, clarity, and calm even when external circumstances remain uncertain.
What stories have you heard from clients that best illustrate your impact?
One of the most moving pieces of feedback I received came from an audience member who shared that they wished they had found me earlier while navigating their father’s illness. In their words: “I cried. Eye-opening. Engaging.”
Another client thanked me for helping shift the morale and momentum of their organization during a period of stagnation. Others have described me as energetic, uplifting, and deeply connective – someone who creates a genuine sense of resonance with audiences.
If someone is struggling with a transition right now, what’s the first step they should take?
Pause. Feel it before you fix it.
Give yourself time to process the shock instead of suppressing it or rushing forward. Clear thinking is not possible when the nervous system is overwhelmed, so allow yourself that grace.
And remember: you already have what you need to navigate what lies ahead. Change is inevitable – but much of the suffering that comes with it is optional.
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