The Chasm

Originally published September 18, 2006.

You, my friend, have a problem. You’re a specialist (engineer, developer, teacher, designer, etc.) with designs on the big chair. But your aspirations of upward growth and ever brighter prospects have uncovered a chasm in the road before you.

This chasm represents the gap in your repertoire of skills and experience that was created by years of focus in a narrow area of practice. On one side of the chasm are the skills and experience that make you effective right now; on the other side are the skills and experience you need to be effective in the future. To continue to grow you need to cross the chasm.

Whether or not you make it and how well you handle the ordeal will depend on your

• Desire (do you want to do it?)
• Availability (can you do it and do you have time to do it?)
• Preparation (are you ready to do it?)
• Persistence (can you stick with it?)
• Constitution (can you handle it?)

Here’s what you’re in for... On one side of the chasm you’re the recognized expert—your competence is unquestioned. But that competence doesn’t extend into and across the chasm. Once you begin your first real assignment outside of your area of specialization, you’re going to find that you’re untrained and largely incompetent—in many ways it’s like starting over. Your maturity and life experience may provide some advantage, but expectations will largely counter that advantage—since you’re mature, expectations will always be higher than your competency, and your credibility will be on the line. As you continue your journey, you will find that you fail a whole lot more than you like or are used to. If you persist and aren’t killed by the ordeal you will find yourself on the other side—bruised, battered, but competent.

Can you survive this journey? Sure. I did it. And, I learned a few things.

I learned that preparation and education are key enablers of a successful crossing. Crossing the chasm is about learning to do something new. Part of the challenge is learning to think in a new way. Embrace the opportunity to educate yourself. Once you begin your journey, continue to educate yourself. Once you make it to the other side, continue to educate yourself. Prepare yourself for the next chasm.

- Bandit