I talk with talented people about their careers each week. Most are much smarter that I am. Many stay with their current employer 5 or 10 or 15 years without understanding the Opportunity Costs to their career.
A quick definition: Opportunity Cost refers to the potential benefits or opportunities that an individual foregoes by choosing a particular career path over another. It represents the cost of the next best alternative career that the individual could have pursued but did not, due to their decision to stay on a particular path.
This week, I talked with two similar Engineers completely separately and confidentially. There were close friends. They attended the same university and graduated in the same Engineering degree at the same time.
Then they both started at Stryker the same month after graduation.
One Engineer left Stryker for two successive ortho startups. Always looked for new challenges and put himself in uncomfortable situations.
One Engineer had stayed with Stryker for 12 years. Played it safe. Never saw a reason to look elsewhere. Completed projects one after another.
The “safe" Engineer is a Project Engineer at Stryker.
The “ri...
