I've been in conversations with people exploring career transitions. I've also been undergoing coaching myself. And I've noticed something unsettling.
The things I'm being taught, the strategies, the frameworks, the tactical moves, I already knew most of them.
This bothered me. If I knew these things, why hadn't I executed them already? Why was I paying someone to teach me what I technically already understood?
The answer changed how I think about progress: Knowledge alone is not enough.
Here's the distinction I'm learning to make:
Knowing that you should build in public is one thing.
Having a framework for how to build in public consistently, what to share, when to share it, how to repurpose it, that's something else entirely.
Knowing that you need to develop bridge skills for a career transition is one thing.
Having a system that tells you which skills, in which order, applied to which audience, with which timeline, that's the missing piece.
The gap isn't in information. It's in systematization.
The Framework Problem
When someone has done something repeatedly and refined it, they don't just have knowledge. They have structures. They have mental models. They have systems that make the execution almost automatic.
Think about it:
A pharmacist knows anatomy and pharmacology from school.
But a successful clinical pharmacist has systems for rounds, for patient counseling, for documentation that they've refined over years.
The second pharmacist is more effective not because they know more, but because they've systematized their knowledge.
The same applies to career transitions.
You might know intellectually that you need to:
Build proof-of-work
Network strategically
Learn new skills
Position yourself differently
But knowing these things doesn't tell you:
Which specific projects to build (and in what order)
Which people to talk to (and how to approach them)
Which skills matter most (and which are noise)
How to position yourself without sounding desperate or dishonest
This is what separates people who know about transitions from people who actually transition.
Why This Matters For You
If you're exploring a career shift, you probably already know intellectually what needs to happen. You've read articles. You've listened to podcasts. You've talked to people who've made the jump.
But knowing isn't doing.
The question isn't: "Do I understand the concept?"
The question is: "Do I have a system for executing on this specific to my background, my goals, my constraints, and my timeline?"
Someone who has transitioned multiple times, from pharmacist to software engineer to health informatics specialist, or from nurse to health tech product manager, or from clinician to healthcare consultant, they don't just have knowledge. They have systems.
They know:
The exact sequence of moves
The timeline for each phase
The risks to watch for
The decision points that matter
What to optimize for and what to ignore
This is what you're paying for when you invest in coaching or mentorship. Not new information. Systems for executing on what you already know.
The Insight Inverted
Here's the uncomfortable truth: You probably already know what you need to do.
The friction isn't in knowing. It's in how.
So the real question isn't: "What should I learn?"
It's: "Whose systems should I borrow?"
If someone has achieved the result you want, a strategic career transition with minimal risk, maintained income, leveraged expertise and they've done it multiple times, and they've documented or systematized how they did it, then you have a choice:
Option A: Spend 3-5 years figuring out your own system through trial and error (while you have a family, a mortgage, real constraints).
Option B: Study their system. Understand the principles. Adapt it to your specific situation. Execute.
Option A feels more authentic. It's your journey. You're figuring it out yourself.
Option B feels like you're copying.
But here's what I've learned: The people who execute fastest aren't the ones inventing new systems. They're the ones wise enough to stand on others' shoulders.
What This Means Going Forward
If you're serious about a career transition, don't ask: "What knowledge do I need?"
Ask instead: "Whose system should I study? What mental models do they use? What frameworks have they built? And how do I adapt that to my specific context?"
Because you already have the knowledge.
What you need is the structure to execute on it.
Reflection Question for You:
What have you been knowing about your career shift but haven't done yet? And more importantly: whose system could you borrow or adapt to make that execution automatic?
Sit with that.
This is exactly why I'm building content and frameworks around strategic career transitions for healthcare professionals. It's not about teaching you what you don't know. It's about giving you the systems to execute on what you do know – customized to your background, your constraints, and your specific goals.
If you're exploring a transition but don't have a clear framework, I'm documenting the exact systems I've used over the past 5 years.
More on this another time.
Until then, what systems are you missing?
See you next week.
Obed