For the first two week, I was just wandering around the factory floor.

I didn’t know the machines.
I didn’t know the industry.
I didn’t know the rules.

I could feel the eyes on me.

I knew what they were thinking:
“Who is this guy? He has no idea what he’s doing.“

And they were right.
I didn’t.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.
In my 20s, I was terrible at this.

I waited.
I begged managers for guidance.
I looked for playbooks and permissions.

I was eager to learn, but scared to act.
I waited to be taught instead of teaching myself.

That’s also why I got fired more times than I’d like to admit.

I didn’t know how to find answers on my own and just get on with the work.

This time, something changed.

I realized no one was coming to save me.
There was no “Quality Head manual” waiting in a drawer.

So, I started learning fast.

I walked the floor and started observing things very closely.
I asked “dumb” (nah dumbest) questions to operators.
I Googled technical specs late into the night.
I argued and played with data until it made sense.

I didn’t wait for a training seminar.
I built my own.

And then…boom.

In no time, I became the go-to person.
The same people who once doubted me were now lining up at my desk.

Not because I was chosen.
But because I chose to figure it out.

Here’s what I’ve learned since.

People don’t wait because answers are unavailable.
They wait because they don’t trust themselves to pick the right one.

We’re taught there’s a perfect solution out there.
That some expert has the exact framework we need.

But no guru knows your condition.
No expert has lived your context.

You were always going to have to figure it out yourself.

The only question is whether you start now or waste another six months waiting for permission that isn’t coming.

The bottom line
So here’s what I’m wondering this week.

What are you waiting for guidance to start doing right now? What is a problem you’re sitting on, hoping an expert will eventually solve for you, when you could just start figuring it out yourself?

You can’t teach yourself everything.
But you can teach yourself far more than you think.

And the only way to find out what you’re capable of is to stop waiting and start.