The Vehicle
This simple model may help you to lay out your strategy for the development of your skills, your personality and ultimately a large part of your identity, that will be influenced and defined by your work.
Over many years I have developed a model for work that generally resembles a generic type of vehicle that will take you from A to B. Anybody is free to pick their own type of vehicle according to their personal preferences and thus embark on their individual journey.
Basic Idea
The basic idea behind the model: Different types of vehicles with different kinds of implications make up the unique work experience of the individual. Whether you would rather focus on the journey itself or rather on achieving certain goals, you can make your choice accordingly.
For instance there is the hot air balloon, which could represent the work within a large corporation. With minimal attendance it moves slowly and comfortably -pretty much on autopilot all the time- and is only mildly sensitive to the wind direction and the general weather conditions. You never really know where you'll end up exactly. In this specific case however, the point is being part of the journey and enjoying the scenery rather than arriving at a certain venue at a specific time anyways. So in case you decide to go on a ride in a hot air balloon, chances are you'll meet mostly like minded people who also enjoy hot air balloon trips. You trade in a degree of control and predictability for relative safety and relaxed comfortability.
As a slightly different type of vehicle you might think of the experimental rocket jet - similar to a small start up or medium sized consulting firm. It does not offer much comfortness, but you have a lot of control switches (mostly for acceleration) and you can blast through the atmosphere at mind boggling pace without even paying much attention to the weather (i.e. long term market) conditions. Downside is you'll take a lot of bumps and don't get to enjoy a lot of scenic view, because you need to pay constant attention not to hit any hard objects at warp speed - a lack of safety (from demanding customers/bosses/colleagues) and minimal (job) security trade for almost perfect control and predictability over the outcome: you'll arrive at your specific destination, unless you're dropped off the rocket along the way.
One could think of many more different metaphors in terms of vehicles, like a small sailing boat, a school bus, a cruise ship, and so on. Try it out. What vehicle does your work resemble? What would your dream vehicle feel and be like?
The thing is, upon embarking on a journey in any of those vehicles you're likely to meet like minded people with similar desires, values, priorities and so on, who are all attracted to the very same type of travel.
Switching Gears
One important implication of this model is, that once you decide on a specific type or category of vehicle, while it is not entirely impossible to switch to another category, it will come at a cost. For instance one will have to put in a significant effort to change from a small boat to a giant tanker or from a jet to a glider. It is similar to a car, where it is easier to go from one gear to the next one up or down, compared to skipping multiple gears at a time. In order to do the latter, you need to exploit the rounds per minute range and this will require to put the engine under more strain, to say the least.
With this said, it can sometimes be useful or even outright necessary to change course or to go through a radical transformation of your work life. Covid_19 has certainly had a severe impact on the work and the careers of people all around the globe. So now may be the time to grasp this unique opportunity and to push through these changes with confidence and compassion.
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