“We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
— Roy Scheider as Martin Brody in Jaws (1975)
The True Scale of the Professional Journey
That line from “Jaws“ perfectly captures the feeling that hits us when professional complexity overtakes us. Chief Brody panics as he grasps the magnitude of the threat; nothing has happened yet, but he instantly understands that the only way to rebalance the forces is by increasing the resources to face it (read: the length of the boat).
A perfectly rational reaction. If we draw an analogy with our own professional paths, they will be long and full of transitions, but one constant remains: we will always need better-optimized tools to navigate.
Sailing implies a larger crew on board. In our professional journey, however, we often have to maneuver alone in something closer to a kayak or a lightweight craft. Perhaps more agile—at least, that is how decision-making should work—but with far less protection when the storm hits.
Everything else, starting with the “roadmap”, will be exposed to weather and natural conditions that will alter it—whether we like it or not.
The Known Route vs. the Unpredictable Course
A professional life resembles a river. We can—and in fact, we should—know part of its course:
- We know which roles or industries attract us (the map).
- We are clear about our development goals and the technical competencies (hard skills) we want to master (the engine and oars of our vessel).
- We invest time and effort in refining those capabilities (our performance with those tools).
Yet even with the best map, the river has a natural dimension that escapes our control. Organizational currents and market dynamics shift, and—whether warned or not—adaptation will be required, wanted or not.
“Suddenly, a merger pushes us into a sector we thought was foreign, a global crisis forces us to pivot roles, or a career path we assumed would be long ends much earlier than expected.”
Accumulating experience in rowing is essential to keep moving—or at times, simply to stay afloat. But it does not resolve the underlying issue: we will never fully tame the river’s course.
That is the river: predictable in some stretches, capricious and relentless in others. And in those moments, the challenge is not only to change direction but to understand as quickly as possible the force behind the shift so we do not sink.
A Journey Tied to the Human Lifecycle
It is crucial to understand that this professional navigation is not a simple “point A to point B” trip. It is a journey linked to a long segment of our lives, punctuated by intermediate goals, yes, but without voluntary completion in the short or medium term.
For most of us, the final destination only arrives with retirement. This means our exposure to turbulence is prolonged. While a strong skill set helps us weather storms, the moment in life when those storms strike is decisive.
As we age, we accumulate expertise and skills, which in turn give us greater technical capacity. Paradoxically, this same accumulation of years and expertise can translate into reduced perceived maneuverability in the corporate world (is the boat larger and slower to turn?), making it harder to find a safe harbor when an unexpected current ejects us.
Skills as Our Oars and Anchor
If the river is the professional journey, our competencies are the oars that define our ability to maneuver. Developing them continuously is not optional—it is a matter of survival:
- Hard Skills (Left Oar): They allow us to advance with technical solvency and form the anchor of our professional value. They provide the power to move the boat.
- Soft Skills (Right Oar): They give us agility, flexibility, and composure to read signals, adapt to sudden turns, manage complex relationships, steer through crises, and—above all—avoid panic.
- Experience (The Rudder): It acts as the memory of previous turbulent waters. It teaches us which moves worked, reinforcing decision-making based on patterns we have seen before.
Our primary responsibility in a career that will span decades is to strengthen these oars—not only to keep the course in calm waters but to know how to respond when the current becomes hostile.
Just as any voyage includes lighthouses, buoys, or reefs that offer support—much like networking and its concentric circles of value—we will find similar elements in our careers. But the act of rowing forward remains, inevitably, an individual effort.
Stop Drifting: Navigate with Intention
The most common mistake is letting corporate decisions or market shifts turn us into passive passengers drifting without direction.
Influencing the macro direction of the river is complex and often beyond our individual reach. But preparing ourselves is always a real option. Understanding the “why” behind organizational decisions or industry shifts—even when we disagree with them—is the only serious way to:
- Manage uncertainty: Prevent being blindsided and destabilized.
- Model scenarios: Adjust expectations and protect our interests.
- Adapt navigation: Align our actions and skill development with where the current appears to be heading.
Preparing, reskilling, optimizing, and acquiring new capabilities is inevitable. So are the waves; resignation is not. Strengthening our maneuverability is imperative so that the next curve does not catch us entirely off guard.
We cannot control the river, but we can control how we decide to navigate it. And in a professional world where straight stretches are increasingly rare, the difference between drifting or rowing with intention is the difference between feeling lost and feeling in control.
In any case, it is wise to complement our oars (skills) with a survival kit for heavy seas. Fatigue will come, and giving up can lead to sinking. Staying afloat is non-negotiable.
And yes, the scars will come along the way—few seasoned sailors exist without them.
