Familiarity vs friction

I’m someone who leans towards the comfort of known surrounding, known responsibilities, basically familiarity. Change has always been a tough word to deal with — moving cities, switching jobs, pushing the introvert in me to go out and meet people, being sociable, and so on.

Photo by Jay Argame on Unsplash

But recently I read in a book why friction is so important for growth. And strangely there are references to this in the oldest literature such as the Bible, and I’m sure in other religious texts too.

People who were chosen to do near-impossible tasks always developed the strength for it, and through it how they grew. Take our own examples, imagine being stuck in the same job for the rest of your life, no added responsibilities, no change of domain. One could argue that you would become an ‘expert’ in the field over the course of your lifetime, but for most people (barring researchers and scientists maybe), this is not that favorable. Complacence sets in, skills start ageing, cognitive ability takes rest.

Remember learning to ride a bike or how to swim in a pool. The first few times, uncomfortable as hell, awkward, even physically brutal… but eventually we learnt the skill and some of us got pretty good at it. That little discomfort is change, it is friction teaching us to unlock parts of ourselves (physical, mental, physiological) that we didn’t know existed.

Going back to the career instance, I have switched more jobs than I care to admit — from engineering to consulting to finance to advertising. A broad spectrum, and each time I did the little dance, I felt uneasy, discomfort in a new environment with new expectations and very little preparedness. Yet, here I am so many years later with a diverse skillset, a generalist’s capabilities. And honestly as I see AI taking over several parts of our jobs, I do get the feeling that these multi-disciplinary skills and exposure come in handy.

Can I understand technical literature? Yes. Can I work on strategy presentations (with or without AI)? Yes. Can I deep dive into a P&L and calculate margins? Maybe. Can I write about diverse subjects and judge the quality and effectiveness of content? Most definitely, yes.

My advise to anyone stuck in the same place for too long — push yourself a bit. It may hurt temporarily, but trust me, you’re going to be better for it a few years down the line. No doubt about that.