08/06/2026
Not every role works out. And that's not always about you.
I've been thinking this week about a job I took some years ago - during a period when I was genuinely excited about what it could be. A new company, fresh ideas, a real sense of purpose behind the work. The kind of opportunity that looks, from the outside, like exactly the right move.
I went in with energy, with transferable skills built over years across different fields, and with a genuine belief that I could contribute something meaningful. The intentions - mine and the organisation's - were good. I have no doubt about that.
But good intentions, it turns out, aren't enough on their own. What was missing was the infrastructure to support them. The systems, the management, the clarity of purpose that allows talented people to actually do what they've been brought in to do.
And here's what I've learned, and what I share with the creative professionals I coach - when the infrastructure isn't there, it's not your job to become the infrastructure. You can contribute. You can adapt. You can bring everything you have. But you cannot build the foundation of an organisation from inside it, especially when the people responsible for that foundation aren't ready to build it themselves.
Recognising that - clearly, without self-blame - is one of the most useful things you can learn in a creative career.
Not every role that doesn't work out is a failure. Sometimes it's information. Sometimes it's direction. Sometimes it's the thing that teaches you, more precisely than anything else could, what you actually need in order to do your best work.
👉 Has there been a role that looked right from the outside but didn't work from the inside and what did it tell you about what you actually need?
