I heard the term “messy middle” about 10 years ago at one of the first leadership events I was blessed to attended and I have thought about that term almost every day since.
A lot of people, especially parents, look back on a decade and say, “wow that flew by, where did the time go” but very few look ahead at a decade of a long and harrowing journey to a mountain top we call OPUS with the perspective that “this is going to fly by”. As I have reflected on what it takes to pursue OPUS for a decade, here is the best breakdown I could come up with:
Pre-work: I am starting this decade analysis AFTER someone has authored an OPUS that has them LIT UP.
Quick caveat: These timelines can vary by an order of magnitude, but this is generally what I observe.
First 3 – 6 months: Exuberation! Who is not excited to pursue their big dream during the early days?! What a gift this time is.
Months 6 – 18: The trough of despair. This is a term from the start up world, but it is when a series of moments of truth hit us in the face and we realize that this is going to be a lot harder and take a lot longer than we thought it would. A lot of OPUS’s die here.
Months 18 – 60 (5-year mark): The messy middle. For those that survive the trough and keep climbing, this is where things get messy. Whether that be a revenue problem, an accounts receivable problem, a growth problem, a partnership problem, a client problem, a self-confidence problem, a personal problem, the list can go on and on. You must stay in the game by any ethical and legal means possible during this phase of the journey.
Months 61 – 120 (10-year mark): The tailwind. For whatever reason, I see the 5-year mark as the real inflection point for most business-related OPUS’s. You finally have found some solid ground and are in the game. You have enough bumps, bruises and scars that have taught you invaluable lessons. You have credibility because you had to double or triple down on your own growth to get to this point. This season is where all the upside is. This is also where you may hit your first mountaintop of OPUS and achieve that jarring moment of “what do I do now”?
Months 120+ (10 years and beyond): The overnight success. This is when you hear about people in the press and think that it all happened overnight. NOPE it was a decade’s + worth of work to get here. Beyond this point I see a whole plethora of paths, but I believe that you have to reset the OPUS and stay super in tune with the energy management problem in this phase of the journey.
There it is. My very unscientific analysis of a decade’s worth of pursuing OPUS. Where are you on the journey? What PAs can you take to hit the next milestone?
BUILT TO LEAD 