"A career quilt is built from different experiences stitched together over time. Some squares are intentional - choices you decide to make to reshape your career. Others come from detours, pivots, or opportunities you didn't plan for - from a layoff to unexpected life shifts. What matters isn't whether the path is linear, but whether the pieces fit together in a way that shows who you are, what you want, and where you create value."
"Ladders assume progress only moves in one direction. Quilts recognize that growth can come from moving sideways, changing industries, or taking on roles that don't look like the obvious next step. Changing careers isn't starting over, and trying something new doesn't automatically mean a step back. These moves often expand perspective and judgment in ways a straight climb can't. Professionals who've navigated different environments tend to see problems more clearly, communicate across functions more effectively, and bring context that others lack."
Professional success has traditionally been depicted as a single upward ladder where employees choose a field, join an organization, and advance step by step. Modern careers are better compared to quilts made of varied, stitched experiences—some chosen, others stemming from detours, pivots, layoffs, or life changes—whose coherence reveals identity, goals, and value creation. Growth can be lateral as well as upward; moving across industries or roles broadens perspective, judgment, and cross-functional communication. Navigating diverse environments enables clearer problem solving and richer context. Emerging workers, including Gen Z and those shaped by layoffs and the pandemic, increasingly reject a patient climb up one ladder.
Read at Fortune
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