(This is part of the “Enhance perspective, assume control” series of posts.)

If you’ve spent any time on the Web lately, you’ve likely come across the word “BETA.” Or stumbled across a site or service in BETA. Probably more times than you care to recall.

BETA has achieved such a point of verbal saturation that it’s just nonsense these days.

Its definition has slowly migrated moved from being “the last round of testing with a wider audience prior to public launch” to “public release with bugs.” It has also moved from being a relatively short time period to being a perpetual setting. Like with Google’s products.

So taking this more recent definition, it dawns on me: my career is in perpetual BETA.

All these years I’ve been talking about becoming an expert in my field.

But am I really working toward the launch? Or am I just fixing bugs here and there?

As I’m wont to say, “It’s a product management problem.”

But today, I’m also going to say it’s a perspective problem.

I’m not looking at a particular version of my career. I’m not even looking at my career road map. I’m looking at an ideal, bug-free career.

And for with that perspective, my career will remain in BETA. I’ll never be satisfied enough to release it.

But, if I change my perspective and take some control of my career, I’ll be able to change that.

I’ll be able to stage releases. Clear all the bugs. Release. And start building the next version.

But, without a scope of work, my career will languish in BETA.

So I guess it’s time to start working on that roadmap, detailing the features and functions that each release will entail.