The 70/30 Rule

I recently reconnected with Jessi Hempel on her podcast Hello Monday. Jessi and I first met back when I was working at Motorola, and she had just started at Fortune as a reporter. I’ve always really enjoyed talking to Jessi—she’s smart, thoughtful, and asks great questions.

On the podcast, she asked me a terrific question, “When do you know it’s time to leave a company?” It’s a perennially interesting question, but I think it’s especially relevant right now. There are so many different factors converging for employees: fears of a recession, the Great Resignation, ongoing issues with the supply chain, and, of course, the aftereffects of the pandemic on our collective values and goals. All of these factors can make an already tricky decision even trickier. How do you know it’s time to leave?

For me, the answer to that question has always been - as soon as I stop learning. I’ve written before that I believe the desire to learn is the most important quality a leader can possess. Learning new things and acquiring new skills isn’t just for leaders, though; this is a quality that will benefit anyone in any stage of their career. From keeping you invested and excited in your work to preparing you for future career opportunities, learning new skills at work is a great signal that you’re in the right place.

So what do you do when you aren’t learning any more? Or, as I’ve seen happen, when you’re only learning better ways to navigate your specific company’s internal politics, and not skills that will translate outside the role? It’s probably time to start looking for your next job.?

When I’m evaluating new career opportunities, I have a go-to rule for determining whether or not I’ll learn enough on the job: the 70/30 rule. When I start in a new role, I want to know that I can confidently perform 70% of the job description, and I want 30% of it to be completely new to me. I’ve found that this percentage works to ensure I don’t feel imposter syndrome—an especially pernicious issue for women and people of color. When I left Cisco to join NIO, some people thought it was too risky as I was not from the auto industry. But I did know quite a bit about how to lead a tech company. Similarly when I founded Fable, it raised some eyebrows, as I have never worked in the publishing industry. But my years of experience in various tech industries gave me the necessary expertise to start an innovative company bringing communities that share common interests to read together.?

It takes courage to jump into the unknown. Feeling confident that you’ll be able to handle 70% of the job will give you the freedom you need to discover new skills in the other 30%.?

How do you decide when you’re ready to leave a company? How do you evaluate a new role? Let me know in the comments.