After a certain number of years in business, one gets better at recognizing when a promising gig becomes an exercise in futility, a set-up for failure.
It’s always a tough call, being objective enough and humble enough to learn what one could or could have done better, versus figuring out the client’s realities, usually totally unrelated to a worker’s actual performance.
Here’s what I’ve learned recently: one cannot be successful in an environment in which one has little in common with most everyone else, unless one is a manager, director or corporate officer.
It doesn’t pay to hide your colors in an interview.
Given that choices are available, following one’s instincts works.
When another door is open, it is possible to control a bad situation and resolve it to mutual benefit.