The belly flop - painful for swimming and for work

Imagine a high-diver at a competition. They tell their coach that they're going to try one of the hard dives that they had gotten a few times in practice because they know it will score well. Their coach gives them a shrug and they step up to the springboard. However, their form comes loose and they splash hard on the water. It's a belly flop! They come out of the pool red and reeling. The spectators can't help but laugh at their expense.

Let's translate this to work. You may ambitiously say "I'm ready for that promotion - I've done that work before!" You could certainly be ready, but what if your push is premature. You may get that promotion in the short term, but if you haven't locked in those needed skills consistently there is risk. You may flop. It will hurt your pride. It will hurt your performance scores too, and leave you with in a hole out of which you'll need to dig. And, probably, your co-workers will laugh at your flop.

This is not to say that you'll ever be perfectly ready when the promotion comes or that any uptake in responsibility is risk-free to your performance output. The lesson here is to push yourself consistently to perform above and beyond your current level or responsibilities. Treat every day like the first day of that new position. This will help you to ensure that when the opportunity comes, you land cleanly.