Cannonballs
Finding my way into something new, in my own time
Last week Amy Hood sent her earnings email.
In it, she wrote:
“Thank you for the way you showed up this quarter – with focused execution and increased pace as the opportunity ahead of us grows.”
I’ve seen a number of people respond to that line.
I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
With the Voluntary Retirement Program, it’s easy to connect the two.
That line about pace.
The idea that maybe this is about who can keep up.
Who can stay focused. Who can move faster.
And maybe that’s true.
There’s a long-standing assumption that people later in their careers are more set in how they do things. More resistant to change.
That’s not what I’m seeing.
Some of the people who have jumped into AI with both feet are later in their careers.
They’re not hesitating.
They’re experimenting.
Building.
Relearning.
I was slower to start.
I watched for a bit.
Then I decided to step in.
And once I did, I was all in.
Like the kid at the edge of the pool saying, “Mom, watch,” right before a cannonball into the deep end.
At the same time, there are things I do more slowly.
That part is also true.
I’ve learned caution through experience.
I’ve learned that if you don’t build a strong foundation, you spend more time keeping things running than you do expanding them.
I’ve learned to double, triple, sometimes quadruple check my work.
That caution has saved me more than once.
So maybe I don’t move at the same pace if the pace is defined as “good enough.”
That’s possible.
The business is changing.
In ways I couldn’t have imagined ten years ago.
Five years ago.
Last week.
And that’s ok.
I’m still going to jump in.
I’m still going to try things.
Learn things.
Figure things out.
I’ll keep doing cannonballs.
Until they close the pool
Alison + Wiggins