Part 1 of 5 for the January edition of "Converging over Coffee"
We encounter complex systems on a daily basis, often without noticing them because we’ve developed habits and instincts to deal with them. We’ve made it look simple, maybe too simple. Here’s an example we all recognize - career paths.
Kelvin was used to a structured education system, but encountered a test during an overseas
exchange programme where the class produced different answers & approaches to the same engineering design problem. He was unsettled, convinced that his solution was not the right one. But turns out he did well in that test, as did others who had different but equally good approaches & outcomes.
The engineer’s career path today is not linear - no correct answer, but we still work like it was a structured path of skill attainment & accumulation of qualifications/titles. A great career path is defined by experiences and interactions with Systems, both internal and external, with multiple possible pathways & outcomes. Professional growth isn’t a solo game. You grow with your team, tap on your internal network, but don’t stop there! The greatest value comes from your external capital. There, we find diverse knowledge, unbiased mentoring & new perspectives to challenge our thinking & raise our game.