I won't undersell the efforts professionals need to acquire their skills, but I also stand by my view that a clearly defined progression makes life a lot easier to navigate. It's why quests are fundamental in RPGs and uncertainty is bad for business. When you can see the path ahead, the problems that need to be solved are clear. It's why research is so painstakingly slow when we are treading on unknown unknowns.

As for those who showed up and everything worked out, consider them lucky, though I doubt there are many of them out there.