Air Products, like many large companies, ran a rotational assignments program for new employees in engineering and R&D.  It was a great way to get to know the company and get experience in several different areas.  I myself benefited from that program.  Over the years, I coached many young scientists through the process of choosing their next rotation or their roll-off position.  These kids agonized about their choices!  “If I take an assignment here,” one would say, “it could set me up for this pathway.  But if I take an assignment there, it could set me up for this alternative possibility.”  “What if I choose this assignment,” another would ask, “and they end up closing down the project?”  Weeks would go by.  Interviews.  Discussions.  Pro and con tables.  More discussion.  Finally, I would encourage them with this thought:  It’s not about the decision itself, it’s about what you do once you’ve made the decision.  In other words, it’s more important that whatever you decide, you give it 100% effort.  You don’t look backward.  You don’t second guess.  Your performance in a role will determine your opportunities, not so much the role itself.

Don’t get me wrong.  Establishing a decision-making process is important.  But at some point, you have choices that are all above a certain threshold of “goodness”, and further agonizing is not going to add more value.  At this point, success is more determined by what you do once you’ve made the decision.  There is not a single pathway to success and happiness.  Many different choices can get you there—if you put your all into making it work.

Think about how you’ve made some of the most pivotal decisions in your life:  Where you went to school.  Where you decided to live.  Who you married.  Various job changes.  In some cases, those were highly considered multi-layered decisions.  In other cases, much less so.  I think about how I made the decision to go to Goucher College.  I knew I wanted a school known for its chemistry program.  I knew I wanted a smaller institution.  I knew I wanted to live away from home.  That narrowed down the choices, but left many others!  Mom, Dad and I made a campus visit one beautiful fall morning and that was it:  I went Early Decision and committed to acceptance on my application.  My choice of college led to my choice of grad school which led to my first job which led to living in the Lehigh Valley and all that came with that.  I could have chosen another college and chances are it would have led down a totally different path.  Is that a good or a bad thing?  I don’t think it needs to be considered either one.  My life surely would have been different, but most likely (hopefully) equally successful and happy. 

I also think about how my career progressed.  It sounds like a well thought out plan—one role leading to the next, building a set of skills that opened up other opportunities.  Those opportunities added more experiences that opened up other roles until I ended up as Vice President of a collection of North American businesses.  The reality?  I had no idea what I wanted to do.  I had no idea of even the breadth of opportunities that were open to me!  I took a job that looked fun and rewarding.  When another opportunity presented itself at a time I was ready for change, I took it.  That process repeated itself many times over.  Each step along the way, I refined my preferences.  I got a better sense of the alternative paths open to me and what skills and experiences I’d need to attain.  My “preferred pathway” changed many times. 

There was one constant in all of this:  I learned to focus my all on the job I was doing, not on the job I thought I wanted next.  I wasn’t always successful, but when I failed to do my best, it usually meant I had moved into a role that wasn’t really right for me.  I’d make a change and try again. 

That brings up an important corollary to this theorem.  Don’t let any misstep lead you to believe that you are destined to failure.  It emphatically does NOT—not if you keep giving each new opportunity your all.  Life sometimes gives you a little nudge to get you on the right path.  Some of my biggest professional disappointments ultimately led me to some of the most successful and gratifying phases of my career. 

I have been incredibly fortunate in my career and life.  I was drawn to a field that was in demand at the time I graduated.  I happened upon a string of managers and mentors who helped me improve my skills each step of the way.  And I learned to keep plowing through during the tough times, yet made some good choices when it was time to shift lanes.  I was blessed with parents that taught me to value knowledge, believe in myself, and comport myself with integrity.  But more than anything else, I had been given the gift of understanding early on that there are few truly bad decisions.  There is just the need to make a commitment and put in the effort to get the best out of each decision you make.