You might say, its just 1º what is the big deal, while 1º might not seem like a lot of a deviation, it can have disastrous consequences when you see it in perspective. As Aristotle said “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold”. If you fly from London to San Fransisco in a straight line and the flight deviates by 1º degree, you will be off by miles and land in the Pacific Ocean. Imagine you trying to climb a mountain, working hard to get to the top and realize you ended up in the valley on the side.
While this might sound atypical, this is where many professionals find themselves after 20 or 30 years into their careers. When you start your career or get into a new job you have goals and aspirations however, small lapses and deviations over time lead to major drifts from your desired goals. At times you get so good at what you do that you become complacent, feel indispensable to your organization , comfortable in your role, and you are coasting without adding value to yourself over the long term. When laid off or forced to make a change, employees find themselves with skills that are not transferable, marketable or irrelevant in the marketplace. Major career events like this help you realize that you are not where you wished to be and you are bewildered as to how you have gone so widely off-course.
Learning new skills, investing in yourself, challenging assignments and changing roles are needed to keep you growing and getting better everyday. For you to be on the right track you need to constantly make course corrections and changes to make sure the goal is in view and you are working in the direction of the goal. When asked what the single most important factor in their success through life was, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett both had the same single-word reply: Focus. Being focused and intentional about your career is paramount for long term success.
Summary: The grim reality of the 1º deviation is that, its too late to course correct if you have drifted for long and were oblivious of the deviation
Comments