Don't chase white whales. When a client, technology, or deal keeps failing, obsessing over it will wreck your career like Ahab's hunt destroyed his. Walk away and redirect your effort toward opportunities where you can actually create value.
Avoid white whales. You know, in Moby Dick, Ahab is the captain of the Pequod, and he spends the whole book chasing after this white sperm whale who he blames for his injury. And, you know, eventually this will consume him. We often do this as professionals. We often have something like, maybe it's a client, maybe it's a particular piece of tech or a type of engagement that we keep on trying to do that's going to be the thing that is, that we really want to conquer and we keep on not quite doing it right. When you have that happen to you, walk away, go find something else to work on. Maybe later you're going to conquer this one. But for now, focus on where you can create a whole lot of value. When you get burned, don't go in to go get burned again. I know it's very tempting, tempting to like want to make right and like, you know, make up your past failings and those kinds of things. But the way you're going to do that is by creating massive value for your clients. Do that based on position of knowledge and strength, not chasing a white whale.
