How to Maintain Expertise in a World of Perpetually Dying Startups

Becoming a specialist in the fast-paced and flexible IT world is often a non-linear task. The accumulation of expertise and recognition of personal value is undulating and highly dependent on market dynamics, as well as demand for any particular position.

A particularly difficult path awaits specialists operating in the small-sized businesses sector. The moment one finally approaches the necessary threshold of accumulating vaunted experience and the transition to a new level, they suddenly have to start from scratch, because the company died, the investors’ funds have run out, and everything has gone down the drain. IT startups pop up like mushrooms after a spring shower and die like moths over a flame. The fate of the participants in small teams is to reassemble after every failure and make the move to the next level. There are no corporate support mechanisms here, just the personal desire for professional growth. Oftentimes, the best members leave the ranks of the route because of a lack of resources and faith in the ability of a project to outgrow failure.

I started out as a copywriter and was quickly promoted to Chief Marketing Assistant to the CEO. In addition to being able to quickly grasp new material, soft skills have played a crucial role in my career growth. My responsibility, the ability to meet deadlines and devotion to the team were appreciated in full. I felt genuine enthusiasm and gratitude, but, at the same time, immense anxiety, because I did not believe in the “fairy tale” scenario unfolding around me. I did not recognize myself in my position and thought that “I was just lucky” and “I was there by mistake”.

In the future, while working in different teams on different projects and mastering skills and forming competencies, that feeling of being an “impostor” persisted. To be honest, it still emerges from time to time. But this story seems to be familiar to many. Moreover, eternal dissatisfaction with one’s self is the engine of progress, in a sense. So let us refrain from exterminating our inner demons, since they can still serve us in the future.

Nevertheless, an important milestone has been overcome, as I have started to recognize that I can only do what I am doing at any given time. It may sound obvious, but most people act on the basis of past experience or on the basis of an image of an ideal future, leading to eternal tension and the search for external support that replaces the natural and ongoing experience of pleasure from life.

But only 100% dedication to the process here and now can lead to actual personal growth. This is organic growth that results not from the action of pushing one’s self to the ideal, but from trust in the true course of the current process and in one’s own abilities. It is like a child learning to walk, talk, or dance. External circumstances are trivial, just as the success or failure of a project, because I know that my development is an internal process. My personal success is my ability to make the best of what I currently have.

?Different focus, different experiences, different results.

Try one day to fully live out the state of incompetence, being an impostor, or a complete sucker. May it dissipate any artificial ideals and charge you to achieve truly creative growth. You will be impressed by the effect and new level of quality of your creations.