When Nature Teaches Us About Risk
Each year we get a different type of bird taking up residence at our home. They usually build their nests right above a commonly used doorway so that, of course, we know they are there. I love this time of year, because when I observe nature, I learn so much about myself.
Laying the Strong Foundation
This year a delightful mama robin camped outside our back door and hunkered down for the four-week journey until her precious chicks would hatch. Each time I stepped outside, she would give me a thoughtful look to determine if I was friend or foe. She carefully guarded the nest, and, when she had to take a break, papa robin would come over to keep a watchful eye.
This entire process reminds me of the early days of our careers. We find our place, we hunker down, and we do the work. Many times, the early work we do in our career isn’t glorious and visible — but it is foundational. Our leaders, if they are wise, will protect us and give us guidance all along the way. We are rarely left alone.
If we don’t sit with that work, doing it every day, we cannot strengthen those foundational skills into healthy, repetitive habits. While it might seem like this work is unimportant to the business, or ourselves, mastering the basics during those early days can prevent a great deal of heartache later on our path.
Peeking out of our Shell
We had a little celebration the day the baby robins arrived (three of them!). First we noticed that mama kept leaving the nest often throughout the day. In hindsight, we realized those babies must have been working to break out of their shells. Mama would fly back to examine the progress, chirp a round of encouragement, then take off again — she never strayed more than 20–30 feet from the nest.
I was really taken by how she kept a close eye on the progress, gave encouragement, and also didn’t interfere. Those of us that lead teams know that the most effective way to grow a junior’s career is by giving them challenges that we know they can master — and letting them struggle a bit along the way. But we are always close by when they really need us!
When we take the risk to try something hard, it’s at these edges of our comfort zones that the most growth happens. Our initial steps into the unknown might initially end in a failure, but, if we keep at it, and with our leader’s encouragement, we will eventually master the task.
I’m reminded of all those times when a junior engineer on my team releases their first full-sized feature to production. Wow, I know that was hard, but lets celebrate (then do it again)!
Grow, Grow and Grow Some More!
Wow, baby birds eat a lot! A baby bird can eat up to 1/2 it’s weight in food every day. Mama and papa robin got their workout over the last few weeks since birth — constantly finding worms and insects to bring back to the three babies with veracious appetites.The feeding process have been fascinating to watch. The baby that takes the biggest risk to reach up toward the food, gets the most food. But also mama often overlooks them to focus on feeding the others.
I see this happening often within Engineering orgs — there is always a junior that speaks up the most to ask for more challenging work — and they get more opportunities. As leaders we want to encourage this behavior, but also not to the point that we starve the others. Each person on our team comes to our teams with a unique background, training, life experiences, and personal tendencies. Yet each one of them also has significant potential to grow — when we provide them with challenges that meet them where they are and pull them forward.
As the baby robins are fed, each day the food it held higher and higher over of their beaks. They have to stretch farther each day. Eventually they have to flap their wings to get to the food.
In our careers we need to stretch ourselves, and each time we stretch ourselves, we grow stronger. If we want to grow our careers, then the stretching and reaching (and failing) has to be daily habit that we focus on. And we have to know what we are reaching for — and that thing has to matter.
Standing on the Precipice
The baby bird that has been risking the most, and working the hardest, is standing on the edge of the nest. The other two babies are hunkered down in fear. Mama and papa robin are now about 50 feet away in the trees occasionally chirping their encouragement. But also, mostly ignoring the babies. Visits with food come very rarely now and babies have to be getting a bit hungry. The courageous baby bird has been standing on the edge of the nest all day — clearly afraid to take the leap.
How often do we stand on the precipice, looking at the world of opportunities out there? How long do we say “I want to be out there” doing “those things.” But the biggest risk of all, and the one with the most cost, is the one where we have to spread our wings and fly.
The cost of taking this risk when we’re not yet ready is very painful. We might land a job way above our skill level, then flame out and get fired. (We should have learned by now that any one failure doesn’t typically lead to any permanent penalties.)
The cost of waiting too long means we miss out on the next phase of growth. We might wait so long that no one is willing to let us into that next endeavor and the opportunity passes by. Perhaps the lesson here is to always be reaching and growing, otherwise we will stagnate at a particular level (which might be our goal all along!)
What’s Next?
I don’t know what the future holds for our baby robins. It’s now the end of the day and baby robin #1 is still standing on the edge with confidence and fear.
I do know that I want to be that baby robin — standing on the precipice, deciding when it’s the right time to fly. And I want to do that every day of my life.
