Category: Work

Sometimes you gotta just crank for the deadline, but I think the best long term play for one’s career is to ask genuinely curious questions.

The more you understand, the better you can work with your team and distill information for the decision makers above you.

And the best way to get there is to ask.

I’ve often told consultants or vendors, talk to me like a fifth grader. Teach me the premise of the problem so I can wrap my head around the problem cogently.

Of course, sometimes you have to get all the real experts in the room to resolve an issue. But it helps to have a good sense of when its necessary to push the big red button.

Such an instinct is developed over a long period of time, adding knowledge day by day, taking advantage of the many learning opportunities along the way.

The image of the iron fist in a velvet glove is a powerful one.

A simple dichotomy in a clear concise image.

A snapshot of careful politeness but a firm will.

But is it a good one to keep in mind?

Is it misplaced machismo hidden in a genteel setting?

Is this worldview too binary?

If not this frame, then what?

In order to have a little breathing room for my other projects, I had to hand off some work to a colleague who graciously took it on.

Even though this bought me the space to really make sure all my other projects are on track, it has still been difficult to let this my direct control.

The basic transaction has been trusting my colleague on one task so I can avoid being mediocre on all projects.

Rationally this makes perfect sense, but it’s easier said than done.

Assuming we got from 18-65 to work out our careers, one could break it up into eleven year quarters, 18-29, 30-41, 42-53, 54-65.

But I wonder if that makes the most sense. Unlike a ball game, the early actions have a inordinately strong effect on the latter opportunities – in football, your options certainly become constrained as a game progresses, but they were always a fairly limited set anyways.

Maybe the big difference between a ball game and a career is that of scope creep over over time. A touchdown will always net you six to eight points, but the expected value of any given career shift generally rises as you gain experience in the profession. Balancing such bountiful gains are all those other demands on your time as the family begins to blossom.

Since I’m only nearing the end of the first half and just starting the whole family thing, I most likely should avoid too much conjecture. But it’s an interesting thought. You only get a few shots at within career, it most likely makes sense to make it count especially as you round into the second half.

It’s paranoia inducing, but every interaction is partially an interview for the next opportunity.

The best way to succeed is to carefully be yourself.

Hopefully you’ve prepped properly.

You could always start now.

I’ve been on one deadline after another for the past couple months, so its been a bit busy and stressful.

Technically, I should still be on deadline, but one of my colleagues rescued me and offered to review my last set of plans for a large project on Monday.

It’s taken me three days to slow down enough to be able to start thinking about my projects and what needs to be done for each of them on a holistic level.

Even yesterday, I’ve been in task mode, looking around to do anything that can be easily accomplished. That might be the correct adrenaline rush to get everything done before a deadline, but it’s not the right mindset to work a long term project.

A lot of people say they just need that first opportunity. However, most of them will not excel once they get it, after all, about half of them will be below average.

In this modern information age, a lot of gatekeepers have become less relevant. However, this profession is not one of them. First job, next gig, first promotion, partnership, first project with a desired client. Gatekeepers abound.

So you caught your break. Celebrate, yes. Now what? And tomorrow, and the day after that? How do we avoid taking things for granted and continue to excel?

When a meeting doesn’t result in a decision it means there wasn’t enough preparation conducted by one or more parties.

That’s not always bad, sometimes its better to have two short meetings instead of one overwrought session.

But if multiple people are gonna spend their time knocking their heads on a subject, it should come up with some results.

At the very least, we should come out with a clear goal for what needs to be studied before the next meeting and a gameplan for getting to a resolution.

I was recently asked the career question “What do you wish you knew before that you know now?”, which turned out to be a difficult question, in large part because I’ve been lucky as hell with my recent gig. However, I do think I made two tangible career “mistakes”.

First, I didn’t learn autoCAD at Berkeley so I was relatively unemployable when I came out of undergrad.  However, because of this oversight, I worked as a landscape laborer moving dirt for the most influential six month stretch in my career. That was then followed up with a good run as a hand draftsman — there aren’t many people in my generation that has gone the full technology arc from lead holder through CAD to BIM.

Second, I let myself be pressured into quickly accepting the first job offer that came along after grad school, locking me into a low rate for the next three years. However, I correctly guessed that this job would teach me a lot, both in residential and commercial. Furthermore, they hired me as an hourly worker so when I had my hours cut during the recession I was given the free time to got my licence without too much pain. A more corporate firm may have cut my salary by 25% but expected that I maintain 50 hour weeks to keep the job.

I’ve always found “no-regrets guy” to be a little obnoxious, but right now I’m fat and happy.  Maybe I’ll have a better response and a more jaundiced view of the career after the next recession.

One of my architects was recently promoted to principal. If my interactions with her as a client are indicative of how she acts within her own firm, it is a well deserved honor.

The funny thing is that I had interviewed with that firm several years ago. The owner had initially declined my services so I joined another firm. But a couple months later he asked me to come back for a second interview. However, I was happy where I was at, and stayed put until I got this current gig.

So in a very plausible alternate universe, my congratulation note may have been written as one of her staff instead of as her client.

What a small world.