Leap Of Faith
Jump before you know you'll land
I'm wobbling on a platform at the side of a mountain in the middle of a Russian winter. The scaffolding under the platform is groaning. I have a second, maybe two, before it collapses under me and I fall to my death.
If I keep moving, despite not comprehending where the path ahead is, maybe I'll still fall to my death.
Or I keep going regardless. I keep going and even as I jump with all my might to a certain death, I see that my subconscious noticed another precarious platform just above. I reach for it through the blizzard and I'm safe, for now.
As I was playing Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War this morning, it struck me as a metaphor for resilience in the workplace, and the power of taking the next step, even when I don't have all the information I think I need.
The leap of faith is a common video game technique, and it's one of the best teachers I can think of.
The video game will make you learn this skill, and the only way out is to give up and stop playing the game.
If you want to progress in the game, you have to learn the lesson of the leap of faith.
The difference between progress to bigger challenges in the workplace and resigning yourself to your fate of routine and drudgery, is all about the choices you make when time is short.
You'll be tempted to do nothing, or play safe. Video game designers show us that this gets us nowhere fast, and they teach it brutally, because they can, because consequences are low. That's the beauty of video games. That's why you should play them.
Video games are visceral similes for the vicissitudes of life.
Act, even though you don't have all the information. Act under pressure, relying on everything you've learned to guide you.
You're good enough. You have the skill. You were hired for a reason. Trust yourself.
You've got this.