301–310 of 372 posts
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What personal projects are you working on these days? Or do you have multiple?
I am a quitter, I start projects for 2 weeks until I find the next shiny thing. I have a tendency to quit once projects go from learning to tedious repetitive work.
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> Don't put stock in business relationships. If this is your mentality, is it any wonder you aren't valued? People post things like this and I'm not sure they have any emotional intelligence whatsoever. Sure, your work/job doesn't have to be your entire life. But what about a little pride in what you're doing? Working with smart people towards a goal to do something useful? If your mentality is "just show up for work…
> If your mentality is "just show up for work, do what they ask and go home" then it should be no surprise you're at the top of the list to get laid off. Conversely, if you think that devoting yourself to work will put you at the bottom of the list to get laid off, you are in for a big surprise eventually.
Any transaction becomes increasingly zero-sum as you get to either end of the value proposition difference between the two parties. The non-zero area is in the middle.
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I am a quitter, I start projects for 2 weeks until I find the next shiny thing. I have a tendency to quit once projects go from learning to tedious repetitive work.
I'm the exact same. Sometimes work scratches that itch and I can work a productive 8 hours. Other times it's boring repetitive work and I'll start slacking off.
Being good at your own work makes you useful.
However being strategic, thinking about the bigger picture, AND being able to effectively communicate that while navigating the complex social interactions of your leadership team, that makes you valued and will lead to a path to leadership (managerial or technical).
So many of is have poor social skills. It pays to focus on them and not just the skills relevant to your tasks at hand.
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> Lots of fresh grads and junior staff focus 99% on being useful, but career advancement beyond the first one or two promotions depends MUCH more on being valued. Yeah. I've seen a lot of ICs get stuck at the "senior developer" level rather than progressing to team lead, staff/principal eng, etc because they were too focused on being useful, by cranking through Jira tickets and features, rather than thinking strategi…
As another commenter mentioned, what you are describing is simply strategic vs tactical thinking, and IMO those are much more accurate, standardized, and less judgmental terms for the situation than "useful" vs "valued".
I was valued. Then the company laid off the whole country and stopped hiring in that country. In the end it's just luck.
If you weren't offered a relocation package, then you probably weren't actually valued. Probably along with the entire office in the country.
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The relationship between a contractor and a business is more honest: exchange labor time for cash. Between an employee and employer, enter ideology: I do this because I love it/love helping clients/ working communally to improve the business. Or competition: my bonus is 50 percent of my salary and we're stack-ranked. Or fear: oh my god, I got only Meets Expectations in my review. Will my pay be flat? And contractors…
To be fair to employers… even high performers need comforting lies some of the time. (and middling performers a lot more) I don’t think anyone (excluding the literally deranged) spends their day trying to maximize the number of lies directed at employees.
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how can i understand what my manager needs if i don't know what he does? I have no idea what managers do, and I can't ever get an answer when I ask what managers do. "oh, all kinds of stuff." gosh, thanks. it's so clear, now.
Not sure if you are looking for an answer or just letting the steam out... But if you are searching for knowledge, then I would suggest picking up a book or two on leading people. It was a big surprise to me that such books exist and that they actually help understand the dynamics in companies, and how to achieve win-win outcomes. Good luck!
Leaders primary concern is for those under them.
Managers primary concern is for those above them.
As the dowager countess in Downton Abbey said: trying to be useful is so "middle class". She didn't mean it as a compliment.
I have traded within a quite tight comp band for my entire 30 year tech career. I am useful in general. I have been valued by being offered "promotions" and "strategic instead of tactical" positions, but I always chafe. I enjoy the work. I enjoy solving specific problems in tech. I do not enjoy the "business" of tech and have no interest in any of it. I definitely have inadequate drive to grow a business and make oth…
Contrast this to working for an organization. Again I offer my opinion on how it might be done and alternatives that may be cheaper and/or better which results in the same poor choices. Except now I'm stuck supporting that turd of a decision with my own personal unpaid exempt status overtime.
No need to feel apologetic about being smart.