In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, traditional approaches to career growth can no longer deliver the professional development that many employees crave and demand. Shrinking budgets, limited promotions and moves. Dramatically evolving skill gaps. Fewer formal learning opportunities. Stretched-to-the-limit managers who lack visibility to their remote and hybrid workforces. Is this a recipe for the end of career development?
Not in the least! In fact, it’s a recipe for a more vibrant, meaningful, and personally satisfying approach as current conditions conspire to underscore what we’ve known for some time: responsibility ultimately rests on individuals to drive their growth. Driving development today means adopting a “scrappy” style — using what’s available and within a person’s sphere of influence, enriching their current roles, getting creative and wringing every ounce of development from routine activity. No promotions or training programs? No problem — and no reason to be unhappy. Just get scrappy.
Embracing “scrappy” is all about becoming more resourceful, agile, and innovative in identifying and leveraging available opportunities for growth. Scrappy is agency in action. It’s a mindset that acknowledges that growth is an inside job that the individual must own. It’s a lens that recognizes nearly infinite development opportunities hidden in plain sight yet invisible to most. And it’s a set of DIY (do-it-yourself) practices that allow for self-driven development actions.
Scrappy self-developers see the “daily grind” as grist for learning, with every experience already baked into their regular job offering a chance to learn from what they’re already doing and add value to their career journeys along the way. They know they don’t have to wait for a new role, project or stretch assignments; they simply look mindfully to their next task.
Want to infuse more development into your work? Consider a few scrappy strategies.
Practice with purpose
Purposeful practice is an organic, mindful approach to skill development that transforms everyday activities into opportunities for growth. It’s about being curious and consciously engaging with tasks to marry potential opportunities with the skills you want to develop.
To implement purposeful practice, start by setting an intention for your next interaction, such as focusing on a specific skill you’d like to improve. Then, choose a behavior or technique to apply during a particular work-related event or activity. Then, just do it. Engage in the required task with the intention of applying the desired skill, behavior or technique. And when it’s over, take a moment to reflect and extract lessons from the experience, noting what worked and what didn’t.
Here’s an example of purposeful practice in action.
Set an intention: Based on some feedback I received recently, I need to make sure I’m not monopolizing meetings because of my technical expertise.
Plan: During our next team meeting, I’m going to practice curiosity. I’ll ask more questions and withhold my opinion or comments until the end, only sharing what’s necessary.
Reflect: I asked 4-5 questions that helped drive a good conversation. I asked for clarification and Roger seemed to appreciate that. I only jumped in once when it probably wasn’t necessary. Next time, rather than offering my opinion, I’ll find a way to ask a question that will get the team talking about an essential topic.
This simple process can transform routine tasks into powerful learning moments that drive personal and professional growth.
Seek out an opportunity zone
Every organization has unclaimed areas where the needs are known, but someone needs to take ownership. This is your opportunity zone to make a difference. Perhaps it’s the gray area between departments or the pinch points in the customer’s journey. Being scrappy and stepping into these spaces offers a rigorous informal course of study in complexity, collaboration, creativity, execution and more. By addressing these unclaimed areas, you can distinguish yourself for your initiative, gain visibility and learn valuable lessons you couldn’t learn within the confines of your regular duties.
Optimize your extracurriculars
You can’t meet all your developmental needs at work. Look to your volunteer efforts outside the workplace to gain new skills. For example, if you aspire to a supervisory role but aren’t quite ready, seek leadership opportunities in your extracurricular activities. Chair a committee or lead a project to develop those skills. Scrappy self-developers find opportunities to learn in the most unlikely settings and squeeze development from even the most mundane experiences.
Cast a wider net
In many cases, your organization might not be able to offer the development you need within its four walls. Scrappy self-developers don’t capitulate to those limitations. They explore up- and down-stream partnerships for development. How can relationships with suppliers, vendors and even customers be used for growth? Are external rotational assignments a possibility? Sometimes, the development you need requires thinking outside the usual box.
Soak it up
Mentorship is invaluable. But what if you don’t have access to that kind of relationship? You can still learn from those you admire — even from a distance. Enjoy some career development by osmosis by observing how successful individuals get important things done. How do they handle challenges? Manage their time? Lead their teams? Absorb the free wisdom around you and take note of and incorporate new strategies into your practice. Your best mentors might be those you don’t interact with directly — and who don’t even know you’re watching — but who offer essential lessons through their example.
The beauty of a “scrappy” approach to career development is that it’s about making the most of what’s already around you. It’s not about waiting for the perfect opportunity but about seeing each moment as a chance to stretch, learn, and grow. When formal structures fall short, scrappy self-developers create their paths, drawing lessons from routine tasks, unclaimed areas in their organization, and even external relationships.
By leveraging this mindset, anyone can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, transforming every experience into a stepping stone toward growth. It’s not about having more resources — it’s about being more resourceful. This approach is a reminder that we have the power to direct our development, no matter the circumstances.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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