The Career Advantage of Becoming Good at Work Nobody Has Fully Figured Out

There are two very different kinds of difficult work.

One is difficult because you haven’t learned it yet.

The other is difficult because nobody has completely figured it out.

The first gets easier with practice.

The second keeps changing.

The information may be incomplete. The process may not be clear. Different people may want different things. The usual solution may not work. There may be no obvious person to ask.

This kind of work can be frustrating.

It can also be extremely valuable for your career.

Because when you become comfortable working on problems without a perfect playbook, you develop something that routine experience doesn’t always provide:

judgment.

And judgment becomes increasingly important as your responsibilities grow.

Some Problems Don’t Come With Instructions