The messy, messy middle

It’s common knowledge that achieving anything worthwhile requires some work, but what is less obvious is just how messy that work can be.

In many cases, we start our journey already knowing the shape of the work. Software teams start with technical designs and project plans, startup founders start with pitch decks, and tutorials start with course outlines.

When the outcome is achieved, people, including those who endured the uncertain middle, look back and paint a tidy picture of the master plan they followed.

When we’re in the thick of it, navigating the gap between our ambition and its realization requires far more than we could have anticipated at the outset. That gap is where we deal with situations out of our control, interpersonal conflict, rejection, doubt, demotivated talent, and our own incompetence and weaknesses. Honestly, I’m sometimes taken aback and even embarrassed by what the middle feels like in practice.

However, as the kids on Instagram say, “Cringe is the cost of entry”, and the messy middle is quite literally ‘full of cringe’. So we push past those feelings and stay in the game, knowing that the only way out is through.