The sideways step: why a detour can take you further
Careers look less like ladders and more like climbing walls. Sometimes the best move is sideways.
We were taught to picture a career as a ladder: one rung up, then the next. In reality, many of the most interesting careers are full of sideways moves into a new team, a new field or a new city.
A sideways step often looks like a pause from the outside. From the inside it's how you collect skills, contacts and perspective that a straight climb would never give you. A designer who spends a year in sales, or an engineer who tries product management, comes back with a rare mix.
The trick is to move toward something rather than just away from something. Ask what the new role will teach you, not just what it pays or what it's called.
- Write down three skills you'd like to have in two years.
- Find one role, team or project nearby that would teach one of them.
- Have one coffee chat this week with someone doing that work.
On the reading route: Make a career move
