Going backwards to go forwards

An interesting aspect of changing roles is that we have to recontextualize our work. Put another way, when we have been working for a long time in a topic, we know where the bits and pieces of our knowledge and experience fit in the whole scheme of things. It feels like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and we can see which pages have a flat side, so we understand that they are part of the edges.

When one is starting in a new topic, role or teaching a new course we are missing the flat pieces. We have to develop the feeling for those pieces, understand the boundaries, and see where our current knowledge can help and where it is a hindrance.

Everything becomes slower for a while, while we reorientate the map and take steps backwards, sideways, the long road or spend a whole day going deeper. Then, one day, everything clicks together again and we feel capable again.