Everything we know about learning suggests that there’s a cadence between routine incremental knowledge refinement and the breakout of new conceptual awareness.

Knowledge Refinement. So when you’re at work and you feel like you’re in a rut, consider whether you’re at the maximum of your growth or whether you’re just emotionally bored. The daily routine is like the grinding of a knife sharpening stone. It’s the repetition that refines the blade.

In that case, a rut is not bad.

A rut is an opportunity to grow through the force of habit and consistency.

New Conceptual Awareness. On the other hand, new knowledge is rarely acquired in a rut. New perspectives and skill sets largely come when you are shaken out of a rut.

It’s the newness of a scenario that forces breakout growth.

A rut is an opportunity to grow through the force of habit and consistency. But it’s the newness of a scenario that forces breakout growth.

I see this in my marketing clients all the time. I see it in my school clients.

I will offer a simple challenge to their strategy. The tension builds, and then it forces altogether new understandings, new opportunities, and new tactics.

So, I ask you, and I ask myself, are you in a rut?

Is it a good thing? Or is it a bad thing?

Only you can decide.