Career flow

At the beginning of a career, we work in a constant level of fear to not to be up to it.

It is pushing to do our best, but is not the ideal state to work with, at least in the long run. Worrying that any mistake can make us lose our jobs, is a limiting factor to make experiments and improve the system.

With practice, we start to feel more confident of our actions, people around us notice that and start to unload new responsibilities. We proceed mainly by trial and error.

We take the load showing off confidence, a certain level of unconsciousness allows us to achieve goals of which we are the first to be amazed. Without recognizing your limits you can get to a situation where the fear of disappointing someone makes us hide the problems under the rug until it is too late and burnout prevails.

With the support of those who have already walked that path, the learning curve is faster and in a safer environment there is room for more focus on making an impact.

I underline the importance of having mentors in one's career, external or internal to the company. The possibility of discussing problems with people who have already faced similar situations, pairing on solving challenges, shadowing important decision meetings, having the possibility to try new things with safety boundaries set up, is what makes the difference.

If you don't have one, be proactive and find a person you admire, and remember to give back when it's your turn.

This is a fractal scheme, once you think you've reached the nirvana of the adequate level of experience in a balanced system, you may realize that there are new challenges ahead that need new capabilities and changes to the environment.

If this doesn't happen, things start to become repetitive and we may find motivation on external factors, like helping others grow, or leave the company for a new challenge.