There’s a corollary to my post on odd interview questions and what they mean about the value of learning.
But first a diversion.
Professional sportsmen often talk about options: in a given situation, rather than play for one specific shot or kick or throw, they put themselves in a position where they can choose one of a variety of options when they arrive at a given scenario.
It’s a mindset I’ve always liked.
When I started my career, I used to think you accrue experiences so that, when something happens later in your career, you think back to a time it previously happened and apply the relevant learning.
How naïve I was!
Of course, what actually happens is you accrue experience from experiences that provides you with a set of tools, techniques and thought processes you can use to consider your current situation and plot your way through (in much the same way as plotting your way through an impossible question as o’er my previous post – is a process).
As in sport and the process of education, so in the process of building a career: have experiences, learn lessons, equip yourself with the right tools, and give yourself options at the key points in time.
arbitrary constant 