Planning Dissonance
Our struggle with thinking ahead
Talking with a friend at a wedding last week left me questioning the way I’ve made some key decisions throughout life up to this point. “So, project management.” he said. “Is that what you see yourself doing for the rest of your life?” I didn’t really know how to respond, except by answering “I’m not really sure…I’m learning every day how to improve in my role. Will I still be doing this when I’m 40? Maybe. But maybe not.” This answer makes course-planners cringe. His follow-up question was, “Well, what do you love doing? What are you doing to prepare yourself for that job?”
There’s this dissonance around planning. We know intuitively that planning is valuable. We see the end goal, and we chart a course for how we will get there. We also know that if we develop our five-year plan and make smart decisions along the way, it sometimes doesn’t work out. Even so, we plan.
Through a program called Women Lead in Business at Georgia State, I had the privilege of meeting with a few C-Suite women around Atlanta. They were CEOs, CFOs, and COOs. One woman I spoke with shared a bit about her journey. She talked about working in the admissions office at her alma mater right after graduating. Then, a colleague she worked with quit and recruited her for a position at a media company. From there, she gained skills and experience that happened to qualify her for a different position with more responsibility. Eventually, an exciting opportunity stood in front of her. She became the CEO.
Now, here’s the point. Did she decide at 21 years old that she wanted to be the CEO of this company and order her life in accordance? No. She gained experience, acquired new skills, and learned about herself and what she values in her career along the way. Is she less driven or less planful since her career was ordered this way?
There seems to be this pressure to have a plan, but these stories from mentors encourage me to move forward confidently without one.
The company I work for was started by two guys who were messing around building websites for their parents’ friends. Now they’re co-founders — one, a CEO, the other, the Senior Creative Director. If you ask them how they got here, they would tell you that they basically stumbled into creating a company that champions those who “Go Boldly Forward” in the everyday pursuits, just as they did. They pull in the mavericks and the under-experienced, and they give them a shot.
I’m a Project Manager, so it’s safe to say I plan what happens in the day-to-day. But my life? My career? I’ll let my experiences guide my next steps. This plan undoubtedly feels less certain, but it’s brought me down paths that I couldn’t have charted if you asked me five years ago.
If you’re looking for your next step, Polar Notion is looking for some mavericks to hone skills in Ruby on Rails, Design, Business Development, and Sales. Check out our apprenticeships and internships here!
