Start with the story of the Thanksgiving Turkey
- The Parable of the Thanksgiving Turkey
- Establish credibility for stating your background
- Worked in tech for 13 years, small, medium and large companies
- Although what I am going to say is based on the tech world, I believe it is broad enough even if you are not in tech.
- Discuss recent tweets about how people were surprised when people got cut from Google Twitter etc.
- I am also one of those people who started working at the start of the greatest bull run in US stock history.
- But my industry is kind of cyclical and I’ve experienced a couple
- I’ve got a couple of mindsets around work that have been working for me, and I thought I’ll share what I have learned on this podcast.
FRAMEWORK 1: Your job is always a stepping stone to the next one
- Not too many people stay in the same job forever. BLS statistics show that the average employee tenure is 4.3 years for men, and 3.8 years for women.
- So keep developing your skills any opportunity you get. This can help you in internal promotions, and to also make you switch jobs to other employers.
- Make sure your job is providing you with development opportunities to learn new stuff, work on modern technologies, keeping you interested.
- Learn as many things about what you are working on, and even in the periphery of what you are working on.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This is easier said than done because nobody wants to appear stupid in front of their colleagues.
- Write down what you have learned, take notes.
- Read textbooks while you’re professionally employed. Your technical skill is your core prowess.
- Using a work journal to create design case studies
*MINDSET 2: Focus on output vs input
The best example of conflating results and time comes from the the locksmiths paradox
Every once in a while you complete our work task much earlier than you think for a variety of reasons – you’ve solved a similar problem before, your assumptions proved right, you had timely help, etc. Whenever this happens, corporate culture is to pad the time taken to do the task so that it does not seem like we have no work to do. Or because we worry that more work may come our way if we
MINDSET 3: People are your most valuable asset. Protect them.
- I can confidently say that my professional network has been more rewarding to my career than my technical prowess.
- At the end of the day, people want somebody to get the job done, but more importantly easy to get along with.
- Having a bad reputation will destroy your career prospects, and in one case of my friend, even come back to haunt you years later.
- Pay attentional to punctuality. Deliver results on time. Show up on time for meetings. Do what you say you will.
- Go out of your way to help others. In Adam Grant’s book, Give and Take, he explains how people who give more than they take always end up better off in the long run, professionally and personally.
Referring to the fact that people have the right to walk out of the door, just as a company has the right to fire you.