Let me add to this to clarify...when I was young, one great piece of advice I got was be the non-complainer. When asked by someone to do something, I would do it. When asked to build a deck, I did it. And obsessed about every word, transition, image and animation until I felt it was pixel perfect. This took time. When asked to build a model, not only did I try to understand the purpose, I made the model flexible, structurally sound and elegant. This took time. When asked to work on a project, I took it on head first, developed some sense of it and then wrote a few pages explaining what I had learned and why it may be valuable as the project went forward, or didn't. This took time. Meanwhile, I didn't have time to gossip, I didn't have time to make friends at work, I didn't have time to complain. I made myself indispensable to my superiors by being a reliable worker. They then took me into the rooms they were in because I was essential to them doing well. Eventually, as they transitioned further upwards, I took command of the rooms they used to run. This is how the process is supposed to work. So if you want to get into the rooms where it happens, don't complain and don't get distracted. Be a reliable worker to those you work for and with. The rest takes care of itself.