Talented people in our industry often ask me for help with a big career decision.
They’re usually trying to choose between two options: stay at their current company or quit and do something else.
But that’s not a decision—that’s a self-created dilemma.
You have to remember that there are always more than two options.
When someone says they have only one option, they’re really saying, “I have no choice,” and you know that’s wrong.
At the very least, add “do nothing” and “go quietly insane while staring at another sterile packaging validation” as options.
When people say they have only two options, it means they got stuck. Once you lock onto “stay in this soul-crushing sales quota / R&D cycle / regulatory black hole” versus “quit and start my own implant company,” you start comparing the pros and cons of those two and forget to invent anything better.
Here’s a real example. A friend was grinding it out in orthopedic devices—long days chasing surgeons, dealing with hospital GPOs, watching good ideas die in the 510(k) queue—and was trying to decide whether to stick with the frustrating job or quit to launch his own company.
I suggested some other options:
Keep the day job and ...
