An early observation

One thing I noticed early on was that people accelerate at different rates early in their careers.  Some come out of the gate on a tear, only to peter out and plateau after a few years.  Others start at what seems to be a very slow pace until they pick up the acceleration rate later on in their career as if some catalyst were added to their efforts which boosts them higher.  Then there is the crowd that follows the normal, expected career path, building methodically on their past experiences and being promoted accordingly.  It seems to me that at some point mid-career many of these plateau and make themselves useful as specialists for the remainder of their careers.

Now, I don't mean to demean any of these categories, or to point fingers and suggest that one is desirable above another.  I certainly don't know why some career progressions are fast, slow, steady or some combination of those.  It would be easy to point to who they know, who they golf with, where they went to school or even absolute intellect as an explanation for these results.  I believe, personally, that these can be factors, but hardly cover the reasons for the overall phenomenon.

That analysis is not my intent.  My intent is to observe the effects of others' decisions and to glean enough from their experience so I can build a framework to keep myself from stagnating on a plateau in my own career.  I think half of the battle is recognition of where I am.  The other half is knowing what to do about it.  It is that latter half that I have made the subject of consideration lately.

Benjamin