Last Thursday I was greeted with the excellent news of my 14th year as a Microsoft MVP.
Thinking about it… 14 years is a long, long time, and my career evolved with it - from being an engineer to looking after almost two hundreds people and contributing to a sizeable business number. Who knows if I will get to 15, either. However the very good news led me to think about the idea of progress, for more than the usual 30 seconds…
In this industry there is one thing which is very clear, and it is something I find myself repeating to people on a very regular basis:
Progress is not linear
Especially in consulting, there is an unhealthy expectation that progress is linear: delivery, promotions, success. All in a straight line, with no allowed diversion from the supposed golden path. Reality is, however, much different.
If things were supposed to be linear, we would not be in a world of Cloud and AI. I wouldn’t see the people I helped grow reach the goals and targets they did. I would also not be writing this post, for the record.
Progress is a consequence of attempting to innovate, to change something. Sometimes it’s a refinement, a minor change which makes something good better. Some other times it’s a proper challenge to the status quo, a complete revamp of something or even better, a brand-new idea which has got no match. Usually the latter is the most common idea of progress, however never discount the former - quality of life is a big thing, and once an improvement gets tangible people will understand the reasons behind.
Stuff sometimes just works. Sometimes instead it takes some hammering and multiple attempts to get where you really want to get. The journey matters.