In the IT world, we have software/applications which come freely aka Open Source stuff. And then we have the evil side which will charge money for everything you intend to get. The war between these 2 monsters have been ongoing for ages now and it’s also quite a funny topic to talk about at times. For example, just the other day, my Australian trainer who was involved in one of the open source project (pretty big one) shared with us some of his past experiences in the project.

One of them happened 5 years ago. This particular open source project managed to catch up with one of the most expensive and popular tool in the world. It’s a very big achievement. But the problem is, the people within the group are so happy and proud of themselves, that 5 years later (now), they have yet to make any significant progress! They are still stuck in the same place 5 years ago! The big achievement 5 years ago has now become nothing….and yet, they are still there celebrating.

This happens in a lot of places especially in companies which have tasted success before. Some are afraid to improve, some don’t see the need to do so, and some are busy enjoying the taste of success. The same thing goes for individuals. Ever wonder what happened to those people who have won awards for certain achievements? Most of them failed to make any impact after that and disappeared into nothingness (though i must admit that sometimes, it is the public’s expectation which ruined them).

The issue with such companies and individuals is not that they do not have the talent or capability to achieve greater heights. The issue is that they never bother to assess (or reassess, for some of them) their position. Assessment is a very important thing to do in order to know where you are and where your next steps (goals) are. By doing that so, you can plan ahead. But if you’re not doing that, you might end up like the open source team – stuck in the past and never move forward. And it could be too late by the time you realized it.

So stop thinking about the fame and glory. Or if you’ve achieved something great before, stop thinking too much about it. It’s just an award to recognize your hard work, and not an award to tell you to stop improving. Remember that our world is moving at a very fast pace. Start assessing your position now and plan ahead before it’s too late to catch up.