Container ship, leaky boat

I have a new favorite analogy for when people ask how work is going. It’s been six months since I moved from a large company to a very small one, and the shift feels like moving from a container ship to a leaky boat. A large company is a container ship. You’re out on the same ocean as everyone else, but you barely feel the waves given the size of the thing. You have one specific job, the ship has a course, and it has enough telemetry and momentum that it mostly just keeps going where it’s always gone. It can turn, but slowly. A very small company is a leaky boat. You fix the biggest leak, whether or not it’s technically your area. You hope to upgrade the boat in a year, but for now, this is the boat you have. It turns fast, moves fast for its size, and you feel every single wave. A happy customer feels like a tailwind pushing you forward. An upset one feels like it might capsize you. And the muscle that I find myself needing the most is the one that summons equanimity.