The Balance Between Structure and Instinct: Why I’m Drawn to Hybrid Roles

I’ve always found myself in roles that sit right at the intersection of structure and instinct—jobs that require both analytical rigor and emotional performance.

My first job was in software testing, a field many people outside the testing space don’t fully understand. It’s easy to think QA is just about following a checklist, but in reality, it’s a blend of research, systems thinking, and instinct. You need to plan deeply—understand the product requirements, the user stories, and the edge cases—but once you’re in the thick of testing, you’ve also got to trust your gut. Especially in areas like game testing or healthcare, it’s about how the user feels when they interact with the product. If you approach QA purely analytically, you might miss the point entirely.

After QA, I transitioned into being a CEO—and that shift felt like a natural evolution. As a founder, especially in the early stages, you wear every hat: product development, marketing, sales, finances, customer support. It’s a whirlwind. It’s also incredibly rewarding, because it gives you the chance to define your own process, build your own philosophy, and live in both the strategic and creative worlds simultaneously.

Now, I’m in business development, and yet again, I find myself drawn to this balance. Business development involves strategy—doing the research, building account plans, understanding acronyms like BANT, and qualifying leads based on budgets and timelines. But when it comes down to it, you’ve got to perform. You have to connect. You have to know when to let go of the script and just talk to people.

I’ve heard podcasters say that some of the best salespeople are athletes. I totally agree. Sales is a lot like sports: you need to know your playbook, understand the physics of the game, and study what works. But when game time comes, it’s about performance. Practice counts. So does intuition. So does your personal style.

Before a sales call, I map things out—what questions I want to ask, what I want the client to feel, and what insights I’m hoping to walk away with. But once that call starts, I can’t keep checking my notes. I have to trust myself to flow with the conversation, just like I did when testing software or leading a team.

That’s the through-line I see in all these roles. In QA, you do your homework—but when you’re live, it’s about instincts. In leadership, you plan—but things rarely go to plan. In sales, you study your market—but it’s your ability to adapt that makes the difference.

I don’t know what draws me to these kinds of roles. Maybe it’s the mix of head and heart. All I know is that I enjoy them deeply. They challenge me, and they allow me to bring my full self—strategic, creative, empathetic, and analytical—to the table.

— Q

Lesson Learned:
The most rewarding roles often require a balance between logic and instinct. Whether in QA, leadership, or sales, success comes from doing the prep work—and then having the courage to trust your intuition in the moment.