Basic Concept #38: Reframe Setbacks. Sometimes You’re Being Redirected.

I learned this lesson when what felt like the biggest career setback of my early years turned out to be the redirection that shaped my entire professional trajectory.

I’d been working as a senior developer for three years when a dream opportunity appeared: lead architect position at a prestigious technology consulting firm. They worked with Fortune 500 clients on complex system integrations, exactly the kind of high-impact technical challenges I wanted to tackle. The role promised exposure to cutting-edge technologies, significant salary increase, and the architect title I’d been working toward.

I spent weeks preparing for the interview process. I studied their client case studies, researched their technology stack, and developed a comprehensive presentation about modern architecture patterns. The interviews went exceptionally well. I connected with the team, impressed the technical leadership, and felt confident about my approach to the challenges they described.

But I didn’t get the role. The feedback was positive—they said I had strong technical skills and good architectural thinking—but they chose someone with more direct experience in their specific industry vertical. “Close, but not quite the right fit,” they said.

I was devastated.

This felt like rejection of everything I’d been building toward. I analyzed every aspect of the interview process, wondering what I could have done differently. I questioned whether I was really ready for architect-level responsibilities or if I was overestimating my capabilities.

Six months later, my current company announced a major digital transformation initiative. They needed someone to lead the technical architecture for modernizing our entire platform—moving from monolithic legacy systems to microservices, implementing cloud infrastructure, and building APIs for third-party integrations. The scope was enormous, the technical challenges were complex, and they wanted someone internal who understood our business context.

Because I’d remained at the company, I was the obvious choice. I got to architect a complete system transformation, work directly with C-level executives, and build a new technical team. The experience was far more comprehensive than the consulting role would have been, and it established my reputation as a transformation architect.

Two years later, when that same consulting firm reached out about a senior architect position, I realized the initial rejection had been a redirection. If I’d taken their role, I would have been implementing their methodologies on their client projects. Instead, I’d developed my own approaches to complex transformation challenges and built a track record that made me much more valuable.

That setback taught me: sometimes what feels like failure is actually the universe steering you toward something better than you originally planned.