Tag: career
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A Season of Learning
There’s a concept in computer science called explore vs. exploit. Exploitation means using what you know to get reliable returns; exploration means trying new things at the cost of those returns. Most algorithms skew too hard toward exploit. Humans have also been known to do this – including me. The known path is comfortable. My…
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Wired for Change: When Tech Stopped Being “Safe”
For a long time — especially in software engineering — there was an unspoken promise: if you were smart enough, fast enough, or technical enough, the rest would work itself out. That promise no longer holds. I had the chance to talk with Amy Yee on her podcast Wired for Change about what’s changed in…
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Resisting Capitalism’s Shoulds
I’ve been feeling pretty mad about capitalism lately. One of the core things I’ve been angry about is realizing that capitalism is a huge source of “shoulds” and fake productivity. The goal of capitalism is to keep us running, keep us consuming, and to distract us from what is actually meaningful to us as human…
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Announcing: DRI Your Career
When I wrote part 1 of The Engineering Leader, about what it means to be the DRI (Directly Responsible Individual) of your career, it was a product of some hard won lessons of my own, conversations with friends, and an arc I saw repeatedly with my 1:1 coaching clients. Talking with my long time friend…
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Explore / Pursue / Depth
My friends and I went pottery painting recently. Next, we’re trying crotchet. The pottery painting was fun, and my star shaped bowl painted in rainbow colors came out better than I expected. I’m thinking to go back and paint a dragon next. My friends and I, we’re exploring. Trying some new things. Seeing what we…
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How do you DRI your career in a bad market?
I started 2022 with a post in Qz – 5 signs it’s time to quit your job. The list is: I stand by this list, I do think this is a solid list of reasons to think about moving on. But three years later, the market is very different and there are two great reason…
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7 Suggestions for Writing a Good Self Review
Originally shared internally and lightly edited for external readability. Note that this comes from a context where the self review is not part of the promotion packet so focuses on it as a tool to help the manager put together the review. Goal of a self review: None goals of self review: Your self review…
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Sometimes you have to choose between being right and being effective
My latest in Quartz… My partner and I had a hellish move recently. We were lucky in that our landlords are nice, reasonable people, and unlucky in that they were quite disorganized and hadn’t done everything they needed to, like ordering furniture and thoroughly cleaning up after the last tenant. So as this played out,…
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Your Action Plan to DRI Your Career
Step 1: Review Being the DRI of Your Career Expecting More from Your Career (and Less from Your Job) The Rent Versus Buy of Career Growth How to DRI Your Professional Development Coachability++ DRI Your Support System 5 Signs It’s Time to Quit Your Job Step 2: Plan Assess if it’s time to quit (this…