Take that Curve!

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Take that Curve! / 092, 09 Sep 2023

We may imagine our career path to success as a straight line, going linearly from a starting point to our dream finishing point.? But the paths to success are rarely linear – in fact, quite the opposite. The more curvy or squiggly the line, with some roller-coaster ups and downs, the better could be our degree of success. This is explained representatively in the above diagram, where we see that a ball travels the fastest along the curved line and slowest along the straight line. In mathematical modelling this is referred to as the “Brachistochrone curve” to depict the speed of moving objects. Today we look at how this curve it is relevant for working professionals as well. Do read on!

If we look at the career paths of different C-suite executives and leaders, one thing that will stand out is the qualities they all share – hard work, persistence, vision, communication skill, ability to inspire etc. These shared qualities helped them individually in realising their career path to success. But their career trajectories are typically very diverse; and their paths and experiences may vary widely: ??

-?????? Starting point could be any; Sales, Manufacturing, Finance or SCM.

-?????? Core degrees are diverse; Engg., Finance, MBA etc. (Ivy-league or regular).

-?????? Global or National experience.

-?????? Experience of different functions or Domain specialist.

-?????? Young talent or Late bloomers.

-?????? Tackled several problems or crises.

-?????? Turned around or built a business or a company.

-?????? Made lateral moves or grew within one organisation only.

Typically, Corporate leaders and C-Suite executives have experienced a handful of the above paths and experiences, stumbled along the way, pivoted when stuck, and have definitely seen a lot of ups and downs, which made their career paths non-linear or curved. While we tend to seek the stability of a steady career path, the reality is that our learning and development really take off when we are exposed to multiple experiences. What is it that a curvy path full of ups and downs can teach us?

-?????? Diversity of perspective: people in engineering apply logic to solve a problem, whereas those in finance will calculate whether the problem is worth solving at all. Working in a curvy path with different roles and people teaches us how we can look at the same problem with different perspectives.

-?????? Forced learning: While we can learn regularly, crises force us to learn things we would never have learnt otherwise. Like learning to swim the first time, or surviving and reviving a difficult business, a curvy path gives us life-changing experiences. ?

-?????? Cultural nuances: Taking that curvy path could also mean moving across a few cities, struggling to adjust, get school admissions sorted, learning a new language, celebrating a new festival etc. We become better individuals, and we lose some accumulated mental baggage (bias and prejudice) this way.

-?????? Resilience: This is possibly the most important net result of taking the curvy path; it builds resilience that we ourselves didn’t believe we would ever have. Once we know that we have handled a major crisis, difficult situations don’t worry us. Once we have moved a few times, we don’t worry about adjusting anew.

To summarise, being on a slide is fun. Being on a seesaw is better. Taking a roller coaster ride is an experience that will scare you but will also give you the best ride of your life! So do take that curvy path! Young professionals who choose a curvy path rather than a linear one, get to accelerate their learning curve, get to enhance the diversity of their perspectives, and get to build up their resilience. In today’s VUCA world, leaders who have been through crises and diverse experiences and have higher resilience also have a higher chance of success in the long run.

I hope you enjoyed reading this one, and as always, I request you to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section. Let us build a conversation around this topic!

Warm regards, Krishnakumar.

Image courtesy:

brachistochrone curve - Google Search

References:

Nil.