A mid-career professional I spoke to last week brought up an interesting conundrum.
He works in a relatively niche area. Has developed his expertise over years of hard work. And mostly loves the work he does. The niche has also paid rich dividends in the past.
Yet, at times he worries that investing further in this niche may not be a good strategy. What if it vanishes some day. Because of the niche, his opportunity set is also limited. His well-wishers have advised him to move to something else to de-risk his career.
"It's not easy to simply give up something I love and have invested so much of my career into?" were his words.
I mused: Life is nothing but a daily dilemma (or joy?) around exploiting the old vs. exploring the new.
My advice to the person:
1. Understand that nothing changes overnight. It would almost never happen that you wakeup one fine day to find your niche gone. Almost everything evolves - some slowly and some quicker. Learn to pay attention to early indicators of change. It's an useful skill that many of us overlook.
2. Howsoever strong, enjoyable, effective, and in-demand our current position is, we all need to proactively introduce an element of exploration into our lives. Applies to career as much as to many other aspects of life. Decide a proportion of your time and resources that you would devote to the 'new' and let the universe guide you on your trajectory. Usually the younger you are the more time you should devote to exploration. As you grow older enjoy the benefits of what you have built and reduce your exploration time without ever getting it to zero.
Now, of course I am talking about an average person here with a fair sense of risk and reward. Not the overnight success and riches stories we see daily on our social feed.
#success #career #strategy #work #midcareer