Yesterday we talked about how taking the long view on your organization can fundamentally change everything.
A few days ago I sat down with one of Mozilla’s brilliant interns who asked me if I think he should work at a startup after graduating from college. The answer is obviously yes. I also provided him with a different lens to view ones career which happens to also be a long term view:
When you start out your career you have about 40–45 years in the workforce ahead of you (assuming you start at about 20 years young and retire by the age of 65). Throughout my career I probably averaged three years at a single job — after that I get bored and need to do something else. This means that, throughout my career, I’ll have a good 15 shots at doing something new. Fifteen opportunities!
Now — how much would it matter if one, two, three or even five of these shots turn out to be the wrong thing? Not at all.
So — go for that startup. Or whatever else it is you want to do. You have a ton of opportunities left in your life.