I found old newspapers in a recycling bin while moving offices. They were from the 1940s.

One article was about Bethlehem Steel. At that moment, it was the future. It made a huge share of the steel that built North America and it helped power the war effort. The plant was massive. The company was “doing everything right.” Efficient. Disciplined. Serious. Business pages love that story.

And yet it died.

That is the part that still messes with my head.

Because it means “doing things right” is not the same as staying alive. It means the world can change under your feet while you are busy polishing the thing you already know how to do.

So here is my uncomfortable takeaway.

Sometimes the smartest move is to do something that looks wrong at the time. Something weird. Something playful. Something that has no clean logic yet.

Not because it will all work. Most of it will not.

But because we are terrible at knowing what will matter later. Even the best people, with the best data, get the future wrong.

Bethlehem Steel is a graveyard reminder of that.

So if you feel stuck chasing “correct,” try one small “incorrect” thing this week. Just one. Not for status. Not for praise. Just because you have a tiny love for it.

You might be building your next decade by accident.