Cloud services saved me days of restoring my computer

Ever since I’ve had my first computer I’ve been at war. There’s times of ceasefire, but there’s never a peace treaty. I’m talking about the battles I’ve fought over the years with computer viruses. The typical battle is won by the virus and I’m forced to format my harddrive.

Concentrate on your strengths, not your weaknesses

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been told that if I’m not good at something I should practice, practice, and practice until I get better. I should improve on my weaknesses until they become strengths. I’ve been able to improve many, but there are still weaknesses that linger. One of my favorite leadership consultants, Peter Bregman, talks about how you’re better off actually concentrating on your strengths.  Trying to improve lingering weaknesses is an uphill battle. You may not even want to improve – just told you should. Pushing your strengths to the next level may take a lot less effort and be a lot more fun. Strengths typically come naturally to people and they enjoy exercising them.

The Power of the Introvert in Your Office

Interesting interview on extraverts and introverts. Click here to listen. There’s also a great TED Talk by the same expert, Susan cain.

 

Don’t burn bridges

Michael Waxman wrote a great post about how Silicon Valley is a small place and in a career you may come across the same people. I couldn’t agree more.  Companies appear and disappear, but people stick around. Not only do they stick around, but they go on to other companies and get promoted. Your peer today may be your boss tomorrow. More ironic, your direct report may become your boss.  You may apply for a job where a former colleague is a decision maker in the hiring process.  What will they say about you?

Always ask questions at a job interview

I’ve been on both sides of the job interview table. Initially I was mostly on the interviewee side of things. Typically I would be asked if I had any questions. Most common questions I would come up with were regarding when the final decision of the candidate selection be made, what hours the office typically works, and to describe a typical day in the role.  As I began to conduct more interviews, I started realizing what questions impressed me from other candidates. These questions were along the lines of the engineering approaches and methodologies the company uses; the reasons for these methodologies, etc. Eventually, I shifted my state of mind to always being an interviewer – whether I was looking for a candidate or I was the candidate.

Standing Out for a Job is Tough

At anyone point, people always say things were simpler and easier back in the day. Gas was cheaper, fruit tasted better, there was less traffic, and so on.  Same comes to getting a job. Before, you graduated from high school, went to college, then got a job with a company for the next 40 years. Not so anymore. Standing out above all the degrees and great GPAs takes extra effort.

Dan Schawbel suggests for students to be their own bosses as an edge to getting a job.

If You Don’t Prioritize Your Life, Someone Else Will

The title speaks for itself.  As always, the Harvard Business Review delivers.

Reading list for right career state of mind

I came across this list of must-read books for start-ups and entrepreneurs. I’ve read many of the books on the list. All very useful! Once you get through a few, you will start seeing a pattern of overlap. That’s the core of what’s critical to make the right decisions and solve correct problems.

A book that I would add to the list is Good to Great by James C. Collins.  Excellent analysis of what it takes for a good company to become great. Most notable highlight to me was the difference between leaders and managers. Managers need to do everything, in the best possible way to get everything done. Leaders don’t need to do everything. They only are able to do a few things, but do them the best way possible.

Overhead of hands-off management is shrinking

There’s an interesting blog post by Larry White (Google manager) about how classic software engineering management is dying.  From my experience, it’s spot on.  Org charts have been collapsing for years now. Things went from having engineers -> team leads -> managers -> directors -> vp’s -> svp’s -> cto, to the much more common developer->director->cto, and the all-time start-up favorite: developer -> cto.

Overall, companies are trying to do more with less. Instead of looking for managers to oversee engineers, companies take the approach of finding self-managed engineers.  This is where the newly minted classic of culture fit comes in.  While every company has its own flavor of culture, they all overlap when it comes to employees being self-driven and motivated. This soft skill is no longer optional due to collapsing levels of management.

I have two friends who work at a very large global corporation. Both excellent professionals and have been moving up the corporate ladder over the years.  The on-going joke is their org chart depth. I believe currently one is -6 and the other is -7; that’s levels of management between them and the C-level. I’m at a proud -1 at a start-up, and not because my title may impress leaders of small nations.

work / time = energy to survive

To achieve anything you need to give it the cliche 110%. You need to go the extra mile, burn the midnight oil, and all the rest. The success of your project is your sole goal.  That determination is what’s needed in today’s fast-paced world where your product can easily become obsolete before it’s ever launched.

Yet, people are not robots. You can’t keep up such a fuel-burning pace indefinitely. You and your team will slowly start to split at the seams. Some may crack earlier than others, but the second the first person is burnt out, your project is sunk. Burnout is contagious. It only takes one person to say “this isn’t worth it” for others to follow.  If you’re lucky, you may spot the problem early and try to do some critical damage control. By that time, you words are most likely falling on deaf ears.

When it comes to crunch time, I know I can get through it with a lot more energy when I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Simple physics: work / time = energy. When I know the work (distance) I need to do and the time I need to do it in, I know how much energy (speed) I can devote and survive. To avoid burnout it’s important to define the light at the end of the tunnel. Furthermore, at the light, there should be a party!

When you go extreme in work, you need to go extreme in play. It’s like the way I carry groceries. I like to take a heavy bag in each hand, so I can balance and keep my back straight. If I only carried a heavy bag on one side, my back would be crooked and it would be a lot more painful. Only working hard will leave you burnt out – only playing hard will leave you with cirrhosis of the liver.

Here’s a great post about being focused and another about how Google’s Marissa Mayer prevents burnout.