How To Become The BEST Engineer At Your Company

00:35:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc_kEyLsXH0

Resumo

TLDRThe speaker discusses strategies for becoming competitive in a new job, emphasizing the importance of social capital, building relationships, and understanding workplace dynamics. They reflect on their experiences with hard work leading to burnout and the need for balance. The speaker advocates for using the onboarding period to gather knowledge and build connections rather than rushing to deliver results. They highlight the significance of being serviceable, friendly, and respected in the workplace, while cautioning against being overly critical in peer reviews. Ultimately, the speaker encourages a mindset of collaboration and genuine connection with colleagues to enhance career success.

Conclusões

  • 💼 Build social capital to influence decisions.
  • 🔥 Avoid burnout by balancing hard work and self-care.
  • 📚 Use onboarding to gather knowledge and network.
  • 🤝 Foster meaningful relationships with colleagues.
  • ⚖️ Be serviceable and provide value in your role.
  • 🛑 Avoid being overly critical in peer reviews.
  • 👀 Identify key influencers in your company.
  • 👍 Being liked can lead to more opportunities.
  • ⏳ Balance work and personal life effectively.
  • 💡 Approach work with a mindset of collaboration.

Linha do tempo

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker reflects on their experience of becoming competitive in a new job, emphasizing the importance of building social capital rather than just working hard. They share how their hard work led to burnout and a dislike for programming, particularly JavaScript. They define being competitive as having the ability to work on desired projects and gaining respect from colleagues, which allows for more agency in the workplace.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker discusses the significance of social capital in the workplace, sharing an example of how they successfully convinced others to allow them to test a project despite initial resistance. They stress that building relationships and being seen as a valuable team member can lead to greater opportunities and influence within the company.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The speaker highlights the importance of being recognized as a go-to engineer for projects, which can lead to more choices in work assignments. They caution against being overly critical in peer reviews, as this can damage social capital and relationships with colleagues.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The speaker shares their experience of feeling underqualified when starting new jobs but quickly becoming a trusted resource for code and design questions. They emphasize the value of research and development (R&D) projects, which often allow for more creative freedom and less constraint than regular projects.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The speaker discusses the importance of understanding workplace dynamics and relationships, noting that some individuals hold more influence than others. They illustrate this with an example of prioritizing interactions with higher-ups, such as the CEO, over less critical meetings, highlighting the need to navigate power dynamics effectively.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The speaker reflects on the challenges of maintaining friendliness and approachability in a fast-paced work environment. They emphasize the need to balance workload with interpersonal relationships, suggesting that being friendly can be difficult when overwhelmed with tasks.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:47

    The speaker concludes by discussing the mindset needed to succeed in a new job, advocating for a service-oriented approach and the importance of building relationships. They caution against the potential for burnout and the need to maintain a balance between hard work and personal well-being.

Mostrar mais

Mapa mental

Vídeo de perguntas e respostas

  • What is social capital in the workplace?

    Social capital refers to the relationships and networks that enable individuals to work effectively within a company, allowing them to influence decisions and gain support.

  • How can I avoid burnout when starting a new job?

    To avoid burnout, focus on building relationships, understanding the company culture, and balancing hard work with self-care.

  • What should I do during the onboarding period?

    Use the onboarding period to learn about the company, build connections, and gather tribal knowledge rather than rushing to deliver results.

  • How important are relationships with colleagues?

    Building meaningful relationships with colleagues can lead to collaboration on projects and enhance your reputation within the company.

  • What are some ways to build social capital?

    Engage with colleagues, participate in discussions, offer help, and be friendly to create a positive reputation.

  • How can I be seen as a valuable team member?

    Be serviceable, provide value, communicate clearly, and demonstrate a willingness to tackle tasks, no matter how small.

  • What should I avoid to maintain social capital?

    Avoid being overly critical in peer reviews and making excessive demands on others, as this can damage relationships.

  • How can I identify key influencers in my company?

    Observe who is respected and sought after for advice, and pay attention to how others talk about them.

  • What is the significance of being liked at work?

    Being liked can lead to more opportunities, collaboration, and support from colleagues and management.

  • How can I balance work and personal life?

    Prioritize tasks, set boundaries, and make time for social interactions to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Ver mais resumos de vídeos

Obtenha acesso instantâneo a resumos gratuitos de vídeos do YouTube com tecnologia de IA!
Legendas
en
Rolagem automática:
  • 00:00:00
    All right. On becoming competitive when
  • 00:00:02
    joining a new company, uh, I'm very
  • 00:00:03
    curious about this because I know that a
  • 00:00:05
    lot of people what they end up doing is
  • 00:00:07
    they just work super super duper hard.
  • 00:00:08
    This is what I did every single time.
  • 00:00:10
    They develop a reputation for working
  • 00:00:12
    super duper hard and then you get burnt
  • 00:00:14
    out. That's what I did. That's how I got
  • 00:00:15
    onto team Falore and that's how I ended
  • 00:00:17
    up hating programming JavaScript.
  • 00:00:19
    Really, that's like where my hate of
  • 00:00:20
    JavaScript started is right there. I I I
  • 00:00:23
    absolutely destroyed myself. Context.
  • 00:00:25
    This uh this is a sort of write written
  • 00:00:27
    down blueprint of how I became
  • 00:00:28
    competitive when joining a job. Being
  • 00:00:30
    competitive means to me being able to
  • 00:00:32
    work on most of the issues I want in the
  • 00:00:34
    company in some fashion. Having
  • 00:00:35
    accumulated a certain stature and
  • 00:00:37
    respect from both engineering and
  • 00:00:38
    business side which I can trade for
  • 00:00:40
    space and agency. Being in a place where
  • 00:00:42
    I can break company soft/h hard rules to
  • 00:00:44
    get things done. These are all very very
  • 00:00:45
    good things. It is shocking how much of
  • 00:00:48
    life is building kind of like a social
  • 00:00:50
    capital with people such that you can do
  • 00:00:53
    stuff that normally is not okay at jobs.
  • 00:00:55
    Do you know what I mean? It's like being
  • 00:00:56
    able to do stuff that breaks a bunch of
  • 00:00:59
    bounds because they're like, "Oh, like a
  • 00:01:02
    good example of this is when I did the I
  • 00:01:03
    have talked about this, the destiny
  • 00:01:04
    test, testing whether our play predict
  • 00:01:05
    was actually good or not. Everyone told
  • 00:01:06
    me I was not allowed to turn it off. Uh
  • 00:01:07
    well, I built kind of a good capital of,
  • 00:01:08
    hey, I have some pretty good ideas out
  • 00:01:10
    there and I know that if you allowed me
  • 00:01:11
    to test it, I can do that. But people
  • 00:01:12
    were very worried because if the moment
  • 00:01:13
    I did it, it could have meant it could
  • 00:01:14
    mean bad experiences for millions of
  • 00:01:15
    people. we could lose revenue, we could
  • 00:01:16
    lose millions of dollars a month if I
  • 00:01:17
    was wrong. Well, I turned it off
  • 00:01:18
    anyways. And then afterwards, everyone
  • 00:01:19
    highdived me and said, "Oh, I was
  • 00:01:20
    totally correct." But it took two years
  • 00:01:21
    of me trying to convince people. Social
  • 00:01:22
    capital is a really important aspect of
  • 00:01:24
    your job. And people don't really
  • 00:01:25
    understand why it's so important to have
  • 00:01:27
    good social uh capital. I want people to
  • 00:01:28
    think of me uh in the top five if there
  • 00:01:30
    was a tier list of engineers and if
  • 00:01:32
    possible ASAP. This is not really advice
  • 00:01:34
    you should uh especially follow.
  • 00:01:36
    Everyone's different. Let's see.
  • 00:01:37
    Everyone's different and context
  • 00:01:39
    matters. But there might be some
  • 00:01:40
    approaches in there that are valuable to
  • 00:01:41
    pick up. Some of that advice is also
  • 00:01:43
    probably not super applicable to people
  • 00:01:45
    starting out. You know, let's see. You
  • 00:01:47
    will know that yourself. Let's see.
  • 00:01:48
    You'll know that yourself better than I.
  • 00:01:51
    Okay. Yeah. You want people So, his
  • 00:01:52
    general thesis is that you want people
  • 00:01:54
    to think of like if they had to get a
  • 00:01:55
    project and they wanted an engineer on
  • 00:01:57
    it, they wanted they want you on it.
  • 00:01:59
    This is actually a pretty good goal to
  • 00:02:00
    have at a company because that means
  • 00:02:02
    you're going to get much more pick and
  • 00:02:03
    your boss eventually is going to have to
  • 00:02:05
    give you more pick because you can't be
  • 00:02:07
    everywhere at once. So, he's going to be
  • 00:02:08
    like, "Okay, uh there's these three
  • 00:02:10
    projects. Which one do you want to help
  • 00:02:12
    on? We They all are highly needed.
  • 00:02:14
    They're all really really good and so
  • 00:02:16
    it's very very fantastic. How to destroy
  • 00:02:18
    your social capital request a lot of
  • 00:02:20
    changes from uh on a PR. Yes. Yes. An
  • 00:02:24
    easy way to destroy your social capital
  • 00:02:26
    is to be super nitpicky on PRs. That's a
  • 00:02:28
    super easy way just to make everybody
  • 00:02:29
    hate you. Like non-archchitectural non
  • 00:02:32
    things like a very very simple one, a
  • 00:02:34
    one that I see I've seen engineers die
  • 00:02:36
    on a hill. If you have a new promise and
  • 00:02:38
    inside that promise is a rez and a
  • 00:02:40
    reject and some people will be like I
  • 00:02:43
    cannot approve this PR, you have to call
  • 00:02:46
    it uh uh resent and reject, right? Like
  • 00:02:51
    because I am filled with resentment at
  • 00:02:53
    the end of this thing by the end of it.
  • 00:02:55
    Like it just gets real. Yeah. Respect,
  • 00:02:58
    disrespect, right? It just makes me just
  • 00:03:02
    furious. Those kind of things where it's
  • 00:03:05
    uh resent and rejoice. Nice. Uh,
  • 00:03:07
    anyways, shape of the blueprint. I've
  • 00:03:09
    started a new job quite a few times over
  • 00:03:11
    the last 15 years, and almost every
  • 00:03:12
    single time I felt criminally
  • 00:03:14
    underskilled for the position. Still,
  • 00:03:16
    every single time within a few months, I
  • 00:03:18
    would end up being the person to ask on
  • 00:03:20
    any codebase or design questions to lead
  • 00:03:22
    a new project or to assemble a new team
  • 00:03:24
    to start on an R&D project, which
  • 00:03:25
    usually entails having already acquired
  • 00:03:27
    a lot of trust. By the way, if you can
  • 00:03:29
    get into this position, this is really
  • 00:03:31
    where all that this is where everyone
  • 00:03:32
    talks about all the fun stuff that
  • 00:03:33
    happens with programming. R&D stuff is
  • 00:03:35
    super fun to do. Often you have less
  • 00:03:38
    constraints than you do at like your
  • 00:03:40
    regular like your regular projects that
  • 00:03:43
    have to fit kind of nicely within it.
  • 00:03:44
    You have usually bigger projects which
  • 00:03:46
    can be more emotionally demanding, but
  • 00:03:48
    you get to usually make much bigger
  • 00:03:49
    design decisions. You get to be able to
  • 00:03:51
    try out new technologies. You get to be
  • 00:03:52
    able to do all the fun stuff. This is
  • 00:03:54
    also where you get to say, "Hey, no,
  • 00:03:56
    we're not using a DSL." No DSLs. Okay?
  • 00:04:00
    Stop inventing languages. Because if
  • 00:04:02
    you're not the one on the R&D project,
  • 00:04:03
    somebody else is. And we all know what
  • 00:04:06
    happens. Everybody in their heart yearns
  • 00:04:09
    to write their own DSL. But everybody in
  • 00:04:11
    reality doesn't want to use somebody
  • 00:04:13
    else's DSL. It's just like a fact of
  • 00:04:15
    life. That's what it is. It happens
  • 00:04:17
    every time. The truth is that the reason
  • 00:04:18
    this happened so consistently wasn't
  • 00:04:20
    that I was wrong. I was underskilled.
  • 00:04:23
    Most of the time I was. I think the
  • 00:04:25
    difference mostly came from the fact
  • 00:04:26
    that I was substantially more willing to
  • 00:04:27
    spend enormous amounts of time on the
  • 00:04:29
    job combined with having very soft
  • 00:04:31
    skills or very strong soft skills and a
  • 00:04:33
    capacity to navigate social and power
  • 00:04:35
    dynamics. The job here is not just the
  • 00:04:38
    engineering part. It's the power
  • 00:04:39
    dynamics and relationships that make the
  • 00:04:41
    company what it is. Who does what? Why
  • 00:04:43
    do they do these things? What matters to
  • 00:04:45
    who? And as rude as that sounds, who
  • 00:04:48
    matters. That's true. For someone that
  • 00:04:50
    thinks that this is not true, that you
  • 00:04:51
    shouldn't worry about these things. Let
  • 00:04:53
    me give you a very simple example of why
  • 00:04:55
    this is super important. You're on your
  • 00:04:57
    way to a meeting. It's a very important
  • 00:04:59
    meeting. Some guy comes up and says,
  • 00:05:01
    "Hey, I need some help on this thing. Do
  • 00:05:04
    you have a moment?" And you go, "No, I
  • 00:05:06
    have this very important appointment. I
  • 00:05:08
    have this meeting. I have something
  • 00:05:09
    that's kind of preventing me from saying
  • 00:05:11
    yes to you because I need to go do this
  • 00:05:12
    other thing. I just need to do that."
  • 00:05:15
    Okay, let's invert it. Let's say that
  • 00:05:16
    the CEO of the company, Reed Hastings,
  • 00:05:19
    comes up to you and says, "Hey, man. You
  • 00:05:22
    got a moment? and I got a couple
  • 00:05:23
    questions for you. I don't care what
  • 00:05:24
    your meeting is. The reality is you're
  • 00:05:26
    probably going to not show up to that
  • 00:05:27
    meeting on time. And when your boss
  • 00:05:29
    says, "Where were you?" Say, "I was
  • 00:05:31
    talking to Reed Hastings boss. Sorry, he
  • 00:05:34
    needed my help." Right? It's a vastly
  • 00:05:36
    different kind of experience. You
  • 00:05:38
    understand that there's people that
  • 00:05:39
    contain more say or sway and they're the
  • 00:05:42
    ones that you tend to be the ones you
  • 00:05:45
    want to listen to or to please. I think
  • 00:05:47
    there there's most certainly something
  • 00:05:48
    in here that there's the people you want
  • 00:05:50
    to interact with and the people you
  • 00:05:52
    don't. Even though it sucks and it's a
  • 00:05:54
    reality of work is that not everybody
  • 00:05:55
    has an equal impact and if you're if you
  • 00:05:58
    have a limited amount of hours and you
  • 00:05:59
    have to do something, you have to
  • 00:06:00
    prioritize that. Now, the nice part is
  • 00:06:02
    that there's always lunch and other
  • 00:06:03
    social things where you can just hang
  • 00:06:04
    out with the people you actually like
  • 00:06:06
    and all that. But you still have to
  • 00:06:07
    figure out ways to be able to understand
  • 00:06:08
    and meet these people that are in these
  • 00:06:10
    different ones, right? Ultimately, I
  • 00:06:12
    feel like I'm in the best place if I
  • 00:06:14
    have an intuitive sense of the
  • 00:06:15
    multi-dimensional landscape of systems,
  • 00:06:17
    features, and people. Pouring more time
  • 00:06:19
    and care into everything I touch than
  • 00:06:21
    the average to great co-worker and being
  • 00:06:24
    serviceable, friendly, well spoken, and
  • 00:06:26
    trying to map out the essence of the
  • 00:06:28
    company/ department depending on the
  • 00:06:29
    context usually. This is one thing that
  • 00:06:32
    I think I really struggled with towards
  • 00:06:33
    the end of Netflix trying to balance
  • 00:06:35
    streaming also is being able to be
  • 00:06:38
    really serviceable and friendly on
  • 00:06:41
    things that weren't that important to me
  • 00:06:44
    just because of the limited uh amount of
  • 00:06:47
    time. And there is something really
  • 00:06:48
    important to that. If you fill up your
  • 00:06:50
    time with a bunch of other things, it
  • 00:06:52
    becomes really hard to just be a
  • 00:06:55
    friendly person. Does that make sense?
  • 00:06:57
    Like it's really really hard to do that
  • 00:06:59
    if you're always in this state of hurry.
  • 00:07:01
    It's really hard to be friendly. And
  • 00:07:03
    that's something that I've been trying
  • 00:07:04
    to really work on is learning how to
  • 00:07:07
    drop this idea of hurry in my lifetime.
  • 00:07:10
    Not just constantly being in this like
  • 00:07:12
    frenzy of going from one thing to the
  • 00:07:15
    next thing. It's not simple and it's
  • 00:07:17
    been a truly it's been actually like
  • 00:07:18
    kind of a heartache for me in the last
  • 00:07:20
    few years is figuring out how to do
  • 00:07:22
    that, how to avoid that. and my bice
  • 00:07:25
    points out that I need to be uh friendly
  • 00:07:26
    every now and then. Yeah, it's really
  • 00:07:28
    it's it's really really hard. There are
  • 00:07:31
    a few let's see there are a few core
  • 00:07:33
    components to the mindset I usually
  • 00:07:34
    have. I just joined. I am a tool to be
  • 00:07:36
    used. I must be serviceable and provide
  • 00:07:38
    value. No no task is too small. No
  • 00:07:41
    discussion or person is beneath me.
  • 00:07:43
    Everything should be tackled head-on
  • 00:07:44
    with a clear communication and
  • 00:07:46
    reporting. Be fast than anyone else. the
  • 00:07:50
    faster I am, the more I can do, the
  • 00:07:51
    closer I can get to being able to work
  • 00:07:53
    on what I want. There is a truth to
  • 00:07:55
    that. There's also a danger to this,
  • 00:07:56
    though. I mean, the the problem with
  • 00:07:58
    this kind of mentality is that I mean,
  • 00:08:00
    this is really really great. You know,
  • 00:08:01
    there's a there's kind of like a fun
  • 00:08:03
    internal uh phrase we used to use, which
  • 00:08:05
    is that the most junior of tasks have to
  • 00:08:08
    be solved by the most senior of
  • 00:08:10
    engineers because few people have the
  • 00:08:12
    patience and willpower to go through
  • 00:08:15
    really menial, boring tasks. It's it's
  • 00:08:18
    it feels like it it's impossible to get
  • 00:08:20
    somebody that's that's uh newer to be
  • 00:08:22
    able to do these things because they
  • 00:08:24
    just they end up getting distracted.
  • 00:08:25
    They they're unable to execute. They're
  • 00:08:26
    unable to finish things. Um this is I
  • 00:08:29
    mean these these three things are really
  • 00:08:31
    really great. It's this one that worries
  • 00:08:33
    me. And when you take it to a job and
  • 00:08:35
    you do that, you must understand that
  • 00:08:37
    it's very simple for people to make this
  • 00:08:39
    expectation of you. This is obviously
  • 00:08:41
    why he wants this one right here. He
  • 00:08:43
    wants to be the engineer everyone wants
  • 00:08:45
    to work with. But by doing that, you're
  • 00:08:47
    also going to be like on the fast track
  • 00:08:48
    to burning yourself out, always just
  • 00:08:51
    working on the same project over and
  • 00:08:52
    over again. If you end up being um if
  • 00:08:54
    you end up getting on to like a year and
  • 00:08:56
    a half long super project, you're just
  • 00:08:58
    going to be doing the same thing day in
  • 00:09:01
    day out. And it may not come with a lot
  • 00:09:04
    of praise. And you know what the worst
  • 00:09:05
    part is? It may come with a lot of
  • 00:09:06
    negativity. Because usually these
  • 00:09:08
    bigger, longer projects that they put
  • 00:09:10
    you on because they think you're fast
  • 00:09:11
    will end up being the projects that
  • 00:09:13
    appear to have perceptually slowness,
  • 00:09:16
    right? The perceptual velocity is often
  • 00:09:19
    more important than actual velocity. And
  • 00:09:21
    so if people perceive you being slower,
  • 00:09:23
    working on these big things, you can end
  • 00:09:25
    up getting more crap despite you're
  • 00:09:26
    delivering all the value you need to
  • 00:09:28
    deliver. Dude, it's real crazy, right?
  • 00:09:31
    It's real crazy how how easy this is to
  • 00:09:33
    be twisted, not into your favor. So, you
  • 00:09:36
    got to be you got to be so careful with
  • 00:09:38
    this one. I think it's good to have this
  • 00:09:41
    mentality though to be able to be fast
  • 00:09:43
    and accurate is like a good goal to
  • 00:09:45
    have. The problem is is that sometimes
  • 00:09:47
    when you go too fast, you forget a few
  • 00:09:49
    details like that one time accidentally
  • 00:09:52
    froze a billboard for a major celebrity
  • 00:09:53
    launch. Like things happen, you know,
  • 00:09:55
    looking back at the process to get to
  • 00:09:57
    that place, trying to reverse engineer
  • 00:09:58
    it. A a lot of it boils down to building
  • 00:10:00
    relationships, maximizing knowledge
  • 00:10:01
    acquisition and shipping. Prerequisite
  • 00:10:03
    and mindset. First, the reality when you
  • 00:10:05
    join a new job, the shorter your
  • 00:10:06
    onboarding slash period where you lack
  • 00:10:08
    capacity to deliver high-quality code at
  • 00:10:11
    speed, the better your onboarding is
  • 00:10:12
    going to uh is going in my opinion.
  • 00:10:15
    Okay. So, I actually take a I usually
  • 00:10:17
    take actually a different kind of
  • 00:10:18
    approach here. So, what he's saying is
  • 00:10:20
    that the faster you can get through
  • 00:10:21
    onboarding, the better. What I typically
  • 00:10:23
    think of is that you actually have this
  • 00:10:25
    grace period that exists at every single
  • 00:10:27
    job. Let me let me let me whip this bad
  • 00:10:29
    boy out. All right. You have this kind
  • 00:10:31
    of grace period that exists at any job
  • 00:10:33
    when you first join for the first little
  • 00:10:36
    bit of time. No one expects anything of
  • 00:10:38
    you and you get to set a lot of the
  • 00:10:40
    expectations in what they think of you
  • 00:10:42
    in this moment. It's a very very
  • 00:10:44
    important moment. And so what I think a
  • 00:10:46
    lot of people end up doing is they race.
  • 00:10:49
    This is what I did for a long long time.
  • 00:10:50
    They race as hard as they can to deliver
  • 00:10:54
    as much value as fast as possible. I
  • 00:10:55
    always had this goal on day one. I
  • 00:10:57
    wanted to get a PR up and running. And I
  • 00:10:59
    did this at almost every single job
  • 00:11:01
    except for Netflix. Netflix, it was day
  • 00:11:03
    two when I got my first PR. And looking
  • 00:11:05
    back on this, I kind of wish I would do
  • 00:11:07
    something different, which is instead of
  • 00:11:09
    doing that, taking this time period to
  • 00:11:12
    not only figure out what you need to do
  • 00:11:14
    for yourself, but also just like side
  • 00:11:16
    quest super hard into all the tribal
  • 00:11:19
    knowledge because nobody is going to
  • 00:11:21
    expect a lot out of you for that first
  • 00:11:23
    week, for that first two weeks. So, it
  • 00:11:25
    is your one and only time where you can
  • 00:11:28
    be
  • 00:11:29
    like, "What's bingo all about?" All
  • 00:11:32
    right, I guess I'm going to go look into
  • 00:11:33
    bingo. What does bingo do? Why does
  • 00:11:35
    bingo do this? I'm going to go do this.
  • 00:11:37
    I'm going to go meet with these people,
  • 00:11:38
    these people, these people. It's like
  • 00:11:40
    your one and only chance to network and
  • 00:11:42
    to learn about all the peripheral stuff.
  • 00:11:44
    Don't give it to me at all. Yeah, give
  • 00:11:45
    me the mean. Give it to me raw. Right.
  • 00:11:47
    It's like your one and only chance to do
  • 00:11:48
    this. And if you don't do it, you'll be
  • 00:11:50
    a sagge panda by the end of it because
  • 00:11:53
    you will not have all that context that
  • 00:11:54
    you could get for free. Like get the
  • 00:11:56
    free context. And so my goal is never to
  • 00:11:59
    go as fast as possible anymore during
  • 00:12:01
    onboarding. Anytime I'm doing something,
  • 00:12:03
    I'd much rather figure out what's going
  • 00:12:05
    on, why it's there, get as much context
  • 00:12:08
    as possible while proving myself
  • 00:12:10
    somewhat, you know, somewhat good, and
  • 00:12:12
    then wow them with bigger solutions
  • 00:12:14
    right afterwards. I used to let's see I
  • 00:12:17
    use quotation marks here because in many
  • 00:12:18
    companies your onboarding is really also
  • 00:12:20
    your trial period whether it's legal
  • 00:12:22
    trial period uh is a different matter
  • 00:12:24
    and that onboarding can be substantially
  • 00:12:26
    shorter longer than what it should be on
  • 00:12:28
    paper my let's see first impressions
  • 00:12:30
    also really do matter for that there are
  • 00:12:33
    no tricks I spend ages in the codebase
  • 00:12:35
    mapping systems and the relationships
  • 00:12:36
    out where the data is stored where where
  • 00:12:38
    does it go who transforms it and why do
  • 00:12:41
    we do this at all etc going up and down
  • 00:12:43
    the stack I try and devour our PRs
  • 00:12:45
    observe how things are done. How
  • 00:12:47
    problems get approached and solved and
  • 00:12:49
    just trust my brain will absorb the
  • 00:12:51
    patterns. It is at least for me all
  • 00:12:54
    about the grind. Okay. Okay. So now it
  • 00:12:56
    it actually does seem like he's actually
  • 00:12:58
    going agreeing with what I first said,
  • 00:13:00
    which is that you should take a lot you
  • 00:13:02
    should take this initial time as a whole
  • 00:13:03
    bunch of orthogonal research and try to
  • 00:13:06
    get something like try to understand the
  • 00:13:08
    broader company stuff because when you
  • 00:13:10
    do do that, it's going to make you way
  • 00:13:12
    more effective. To survive the fire hose
  • 00:13:14
    during the first few weeks, I try and
  • 00:13:16
    fine-tune a blackbox filter to apply on
  • 00:13:18
    things that seem low signal. If I'm
  • 00:13:20
    going down every path, I lose speed. Can
  • 00:13:22
    I do this task and blackbox as much as I
  • 00:13:24
    can? If so great, I will code by
  • 00:13:26
    emulating p coding patterns of others
  • 00:13:29
    from A to Z. Anything I believe to be
  • 00:13:31
    low signal, I ignore and treat as a
  • 00:13:33
    magical black box, trying to keep my
  • 00:13:35
    focus on the most important
  • 00:13:36
    subcomponents. I have to deal with for
  • 00:13:38
    uh that specific task. End to end
  • 00:13:41
    understanding will come over time and
  • 00:13:42
    through repetition. Does anybody not do
  • 00:13:45
    this? Is there any other way to survive
  • 00:13:47
    in a large codebase? Right? Like is
  • 00:13:49
    there any other way you can get through
  • 00:13:51
    a large a large large uh coasting
  • 00:13:54
    obviously I don't know you get fired but
  • 00:13:56
    honestly base take it I I don't really
  • 00:13:58
    understand how you can do anything else
  • 00:14:00
    right like you can imagine that you're
  • 00:14:01
    in a codebase and there's some like
  • 00:14:04
    logger you don't need to understand how
  • 00:14:06
    this logger works you just need to know
  • 00:14:08
    where you go and where to look I don't
  • 00:14:12
    think you need to know a lot more about
  • 00:14:13
    a logger right and so you can go in here
  • 00:14:16
    and understand all the different things
  • 00:14:18
    and try to really get it. But you also
  • 00:14:20
    just don't need to. There's a whole
  • 00:14:21
    bunch of these functions where you like
  • 00:14:22
    you just don't need to pay attention to
  • 00:14:24
    how it works. You just need to know it's
  • 00:14:26
    there and how to use it and that's it.
  • 00:14:28
    Just keep it a black box. The end.
  • 00:14:30
    Unless the architecture is trash.
  • 00:14:32
    Hashtag. Yes. Unless there's that one
  • 00:14:35
    fun architecture where if you don't call
  • 00:14:36
    this one function which has nothing to
  • 00:14:38
    do with anything, you won't be able to
  • 00:14:39
    proceed. One of the first things I
  • 00:14:41
    quickly try to map out is who are the
  • 00:14:42
    wizards at the company? Those who are
  • 00:14:44
    20% guys doing 80% that matters. This is
  • 00:14:47
    usually a month plus long process which
  • 00:14:49
    is almost entirely vibes based to make
  • 00:14:51
    the wizard list is fairly simple. How do
  • 00:14:53
    people talk about this person? What does
  • 00:14:56
    this person do? How close are they to be
  • 00:14:58
    uh to the core primitives of what makes
  • 00:15:00
    the company tick? How is their code? Can
  • 00:15:02
    I see it? Is it impressive? You know,
  • 00:15:05
    this is a very very tricky thing and I
  • 00:15:09
    think this last part is very very very
  • 00:15:12
    good to know about. Let's just say I've
  • 00:15:15
    worked with some people that have that
  • 00:15:18
    had massive
  • 00:15:19
    reputations at the company, but when you
  • 00:15:22
    did get down to brass tax and you did
  • 00:15:25
    look at their code or the things they've
  • 00:15:28
    done, it was almost none of it. Now,
  • 00:15:31
    that's that's the really hard part about
  • 00:15:33
    larger companies. Now, I've never worked
  • 00:15:34
    at a company or I have worked at a
  • 00:15:35
    company. I guess the companies I did
  • 00:15:38
    work at that were smaller, it was very
  • 00:15:40
    easy to just understand that this person
  • 00:15:41
    was good or bad. But once you get beyond
  • 00:15:45
    say a couple hundred engineers, you
  • 00:15:47
    start getting this weird um I don't know
  • 00:15:49
    what you call it, internal company
  • 00:15:51
    influencer that's, you know, they're the
  • 00:15:54
    big ideas guy and they often come out
  • 00:15:57
    and they do a bunch of stuff and it
  • 00:15:59
    sounds really great and they have a huge
  • 00:16:00
    reputation for starting things, but you
  • 00:16:02
    can find that they quickly are a bunch
  • 00:16:04
    of yappers and not a lot of doers. And
  • 00:16:07
    if you're not careful, you can suffer
  • 00:16:08
    under their regime. I had a uh I had a
  • 00:16:11
    time in my life I still I still think
  • 00:16:13
    about it was like December 27th
  • 00:16:15
    receiving phone calls to talk about
  • 00:16:17
    features and I just wanted a bit of
  • 00:16:19
    Christmas and that's it. I was just like
  • 00:16:21
    dude I'm so burnt out. I'm so tired of
  • 00:16:23
    all this. I remember that was the day
  • 00:16:25
    that I decided I hate what I was doing.
  • 00:16:28
    That was the day I decided I was going
  • 00:16:29
    to quit Netflix. And that was, you know,
  • 00:16:32
    the first time I tried to quit Netflix.
  • 00:16:34
    And it was just like, man, I can't do it
  • 00:16:36
    anymore. I can't do it anymore because
  • 00:16:38
    here's somebody that does all the
  • 00:16:39
    talking, gets all of the recognition,
  • 00:16:42
    and I'm out here writing code non-stop
  • 00:16:44
    for 60 hours a week. So, you know,
  • 00:16:46
    sometimes the wizards, they're wizards.
  • 00:16:48
    Not they're wizards. Like, um, have you
  • 00:16:50
    read the Harry Potter books? Who's the
  • 00:16:52
    guy that goes like this? Harry, Harry,
  • 00:16:54
    Harry. He's the one that's not actually
  • 00:16:58
    a good wizard, but he's the one
  • 00:17:01
    Lockheart. There you go. Lockhart.
  • 00:17:03
    Lockhart pretends to be this really
  • 00:17:05
    great person, but what he really does is
  • 00:17:06
    he steals everybody's story. Yeah.
  • 00:17:08
    Lockhart. Harry, Harry, Harry. Right.
  • 00:17:10
    He's constantly doing that. Lock cart.
  • 00:17:13
    And so you got to be careful. Are you
  • 00:17:15
    getting a law cart or are you not?
  • 00:17:17
    Right. That's a real That's a real one.
  • 00:17:19
    Stolen valor, right, dude? I like I
  • 00:17:22
    said, there was there was a time period,
  • 00:17:24
    man. It was like 70 80 hours a week for
  • 00:17:26
    a year and a half trying to get
  • 00:17:27
    something done. And then it just it just
  • 00:17:29
    I finally was just like, "Okay, I can't
  • 00:17:31
    keep working on the same project under
  • 00:17:33
    someone that's just absolutely changing
  • 00:17:35
    their mind constantly that has this
  • 00:17:37
    great reputation at the company. I'm
  • 00:17:40
    going bananas." Like, I'm the one going
  • 00:17:42
    bananas cuz I'm the one holding it up.
  • 00:17:43
    And and there's one other co-orker with
  • 00:17:45
    me and he's complain. He's over there
  • 00:17:47
    talking about being depressed and
  • 00:17:49
    actually having really hard times. and
  • 00:17:50
    we're just like struggling to make
  • 00:17:53
    somebody else look good, which is just
  • 00:17:54
    very painful. Once I have a So, that's
  • 00:17:57
    my worry about wizards, by the way. My
  • 00:17:59
    unwary about wizards is you find a great
  • 00:18:00
    one and they're just great. Uh, once I
  • 00:18:03
    had a solid list, I try to get closer. I
  • 00:18:06
    join the same channels. I read every
  • 00:18:08
    message they post. I stalk their PRs. I
  • 00:18:10
    try to map out in which spaces they
  • 00:18:12
    move, what people they interact with,
  • 00:18:14
    etc. I'll even look up their slack.
  • 00:18:16
    Ajira and get history to some vague
  • 00:18:18
    lines of the main larger projects they
  • 00:18:21
    worked on and let's see and the texture
  • 00:18:23
    of their expertise. The goal here, by
  • 00:18:25
    the way, this sounds weird, but let's
  • 00:18:26
    see the goal. Let's see the goal. The
  • 00:18:28
    goal here is to understand how can I
  • 00:18:30
    become more like them? How can I absorb
  • 00:18:32
    their knowledge, their skills, and
  • 00:18:33
    everything they have that I don't have?
  • 00:18:35
    How can I make them want to work with
  • 00:18:36
    me? Most important, how do I get close
  • 00:18:39
    to them so I can proceed with the above?
  • 00:18:41
    I would say there's a danger to this,
  • 00:18:43
    which is that it's not the stalker
  • 00:18:45
    vibes. I mean, we all we all do this in
  • 00:18:47
    some in some way or another. Like,
  • 00:18:49
    everybody sees somebody who's really
  • 00:18:51
    good at what they do and they want to
  • 00:18:53
    they want to absorb and draft off those
  • 00:18:56
    people. Like, I I understand that people
  • 00:18:58
    are saying it's stalker, it's stalker
  • 00:18:59
    fib, it's stalker fib, it's stalker
  • 00:19:00
    fives. Just remember like how many of
  • 00:19:02
    you guys also had somebody especially in
  • 00:19:04
    your younger years that were absolutely
  • 00:19:07
    top level people that you just wanted to
  • 00:19:10
    like understand how they did and you
  • 00:19:12
    wanted to pursue mentorship and you
  • 00:19:13
    wanted to like you wanted them to mentor
  • 00:19:15
    you. You would do something very very
  • 00:19:17
    much like this. So I don't think that
  • 00:19:19
    this is completely out of the ballpark.
  • 00:19:20
    I think just writing it down and saying
  • 00:19:22
    it this way makes it sound a lot weirder
  • 00:19:24
    than it actually is. This is just
  • 00:19:26
    someone saying like hey you want to get
  • 00:19:28
    really really good. you just pursue this
  • 00:19:30
    person as a mentor. You pursue like you
  • 00:19:32
    truly try to look up and try to figure
  • 00:19:33
    out what they're doing. So I don't want
  • 00:19:35
    to say uh chat understanding of course
  • 00:19:37
    he's giving advice about how to get
  • 00:19:38
    ahead and chat says mabs I know it is
  • 00:19:41
    there there's definitely a you got to be
  • 00:19:44
    careful how you read this and I could
  • 00:19:45
    understand why people say this but I do
  • 00:19:47
    want to say that there's also a negative
  • 00:19:49
    to this which is the consistent this is
  • 00:19:53
    a very materialistic view of life which
  • 00:19:56
    is every person and their
  • 00:19:59
    expertise is a thing that is in your
  • 00:20:03
    path.
  • 00:20:04
    that you need to use to get better. Now,
  • 00:20:06
    notice that you can almost read this and
  • 00:20:09
    see the transactional nature of the
  • 00:20:11
    person with the skill. You can almost
  • 00:20:13
    see it as a consumption. You can see the
  • 00:20:15
    consu the consumerism eating up like I
  • 00:20:19
    the the the never stopping eating of
  • 00:20:22
    consumerism lifestyle where it's just
  • 00:20:23
    like they have something I want. I will
  • 00:20:26
    obtain it. I'm going to like figure it
  • 00:20:28
    all out and consume it. Now, there's
  • 00:20:30
    obviously a good there's a good thing,
  • 00:20:31
    which is that I want to get better. But
  • 00:20:33
    there is the bad side of I want to get
  • 00:20:35
    better always at all times and and
  • 00:20:37
    anybody who has something, I'm going to
  • 00:20:39
    pursue it ruthlessly until they are not
  • 00:20:40
    worth it. And when they're not worth it,
  • 00:20:42
    I no longer care about them. Right?
  • 00:20:44
    There is also a very dangerous side to
  • 00:20:46
    this. To that end, I make a list
  • 00:20:48
    obsessively of both people and their
  • 00:20:50
    skills or even their personal personal
  • 00:20:51
    traits, scratching down every thought I
  • 00:20:53
    have and making sure to feed my brain
  • 00:20:55
    with as much data as possible. So, my
  • 00:20:57
    intuition and soft skills have something
  • 00:20:59
    going on. This is how, by the way, this
  • 00:21:00
    is how salesmen do it. If you're ever
  • 00:21:02
    wondering why you ever have some
  • 00:21:03
    salesman you really really like, like
  • 00:21:05
    have you ever met somebody that when you
  • 00:21:07
    talk to them, they just have all this,
  • 00:21:09
    they're just like really good at asking
  • 00:21:11
    you all these questions and you have
  • 00:21:13
    this really kind of like very positive
  • 00:21:16
    experience. It's because they're
  • 00:21:18
    salespeople. This is what sales people
  • 00:21:20
    do. They write down everything. They
  • 00:21:21
    keep journals. They know all this stuff.
  • 00:21:23
    So when they come by somebody like, "I'm
  • 00:21:25
    going to be meeting with Bill coming up.
  • 00:21:27
    Let's go look at Bill." Okay, Bill. He
  • 00:21:29
    has two kids. They're both in soccer.
  • 00:21:31
    Let's talk about soccer. Last time we
  • 00:21:33
    talked, wife was sick. Let's Let's
  • 00:21:35
    follow up with the wife being sick,
  • 00:21:37
    right? Bum bum bum goes in the middle.
  • 00:21:39
    Bill, it's been so long, dude. Last time
  • 00:21:42
    I checked, the kids were in like the
  • 00:21:44
    young leagues with soccer. Are they
  • 00:21:46
    still doing soccer? You know, and then
  • 00:21:48
    all a sudden, this is how S like this is
  • 00:21:50
    how salesman's stuff works, right? You
  • 00:21:52
    hate them. I don't think you hate them
  • 00:21:53
    at all. I don't think you hate them at
  • 00:21:55
    all. I think all those people I know.
  • 00:21:56
    And then they turn Italian. I'm not sure
  • 00:21:58
    exactly how I just turned Italian. It's
  • 00:21:59
    me. Why? What are you doing? Right. Um,
  • 00:22:02
    I'm not exactly sure why you would say
  • 00:22:04
    you hate them. These are people that
  • 00:22:06
    care enough to write a lot of stuff
  • 00:22:08
    about you down so that they can interact
  • 00:22:10
    with you the best. Now, obviously,
  • 00:22:11
    they're selling you something. Now, what
  • 00:22:13
    is that thing they're selling? They may
  • 00:22:14
    be trying to get something from you.
  • 00:22:16
    True. But the reality is, how often are
  • 00:22:18
    you trying to get stuff from other
  • 00:22:20
    people? You're just bad at it. The only
  • 00:22:23
    the only thing that's thing is that
  • 00:22:24
    you're just bad at it and they're good
  • 00:22:25
    at it. And the only way to be good at
  • 00:22:27
    it, now you could invert this and say
  • 00:22:29
    you should be writing. You could invert
  • 00:22:31
    this and say you write stuff down about
  • 00:22:33
    people. You write how they interact and
  • 00:22:35
    all this because you care enough and you
  • 00:22:36
    want to create a good company. I do say
  • 00:22:39
    that at the end of the day, this is the
  • 00:22:42
    ruthless version of how to get ahead out
  • 00:22:43
    of the company. I would say the more
  • 00:22:45
    awesome way is that you do this for the
  • 00:22:49
    sake of being able to connect and be a
  • 00:22:50
    great co-orker with people and you make
  • 00:22:52
    people feel good. the thing you're
  • 00:22:54
    selling them is a good team to be a part
  • 00:22:56
    of. I think that that is much more the
  • 00:22:59
    appropriate version of this exact same
  • 00:23:01
    execution, right? Like truly truly it'd
  • 00:23:04
    be the exact same execution. You can't
  • 00:23:06
    remember everything and so it's really
  • 00:23:08
    smart of you to write things down. Like
  • 00:23:09
    you actually want to write things down.
  • 00:23:11
    It makes perfect sense. So remembering
  • 00:23:13
    about people is good and writing it down
  • 00:23:15
    is somehow bad. Oh yeah. Well, I mean
  • 00:23:16
    I'd say it's the intentions, right? I
  • 00:23:18
    think that ultimately it's the
  • 00:23:19
    intentions that people feel. Again, we
  • 00:23:21
    live in a world where right now I think
  • 00:23:23
    we're at a very critical time just in
  • 00:23:25
    kind of this general at least online
  • 00:23:27
    culture probably just in this chat where
  • 00:23:29
    people feel that authenticity is at an
  • 00:23:32
    all-time low that every time you talk to
  • 00:23:34
    somebody it's like a veneer of a person.
  • 00:23:37
    It's I mean effectively you're talking
  • 00:23:39
    to J C Chad Jeppity all the time, right?
  • 00:23:41
    So the reason why chat jeyp is so
  • 00:23:42
    annoying is because every time you read
  • 00:23:43
    their responses, every time you read
  • 00:23:45
    something about it, it's just so I don't
  • 00:23:48
    know how to say it other than it's
  • 00:23:49
    soulless, right? It's there's like the
  • 00:23:51
    the essence is all gone and whacked up.
  • 00:23:53
    And so you can imagine that people are
  • 00:23:55
    tired of always being sold. NPCs, NPCs
  • 00:23:59
    everywhere, NPCs, NPCs as far as the eye
  • 00:24:02
    can see. You're right. Right. But the
  • 00:24:05
    the inversion is that I think it is good
  • 00:24:06
    that if you wanted to make a great team,
  • 00:24:08
    if you want to make a great team and
  • 00:24:10
    your goal is to create a really great
  • 00:24:12
    environment, you have to do the exact
  • 00:24:14
    same thing. You're going to want to
  • 00:24:15
    write down things that you've learned
  • 00:24:16
    about the person. You're going to want
  • 00:24:18
    to be able to have a running documents
  • 00:24:19
    on all these things because you're going
  • 00:24:20
    to want to be able to revisit it and be
  • 00:24:22
    able to talk to those people in a way
  • 00:24:24
    that you know makes them feel
  • 00:24:26
    comfortable. You're going to want to be
  • 00:24:27
    able to encourage them and make them the
  • 00:24:28
    best teammates. And so this is like so
  • 00:24:30
    you're going to have to write down their
  • 00:24:31
    weaknesses. Like you're going to have to
  • 00:24:32
    do all this cuz you're not going to be
  • 00:24:33
    able to do it all regardless of which
  • 00:24:35
    teams they're on. Being able to drop a
  • 00:24:37
    DM to tell them how I love they work. I
  • 00:24:41
    think that's supposed to be their work.
  • 00:24:42
    their work or I'm learning from them for
  • 00:24:45
    uh from afar at least plants a small
  • 00:24:48
    seed that the possibility to blossom
  • 00:24:49
    into a concrete opportunity. So, this is
  • 00:24:52
    obviously this is the consumption side
  • 00:24:53
    of things. Side note, at my current job
  • 00:24:55
    years ago, I uploaded a specific emoji
  • 00:24:56
    from one of my wizards favorite anime
  • 00:24:58
    and didn't say anything. He was one of
  • 00:25:00
    the wizards that was the hardest to
  • 00:25:02
    approach. Been in the company 15 years.
  • 00:25:03
    Superstar Free Electron. Not the most
  • 00:25:06
    social. I waited eight months to use it
  • 00:25:08
    on one of his messages which led him to
  • 00:25:10
    ask wow who uploaded this which then
  • 00:25:14
    this led to one two 10 conversations
  • 00:25:16
    about our hobbies and ourselves and then
  • 00:25:18
    the company and our projects etc. We're
  • 00:25:21
    let's see we're now really good friends
  • 00:25:22
    and our teams ended up collaborating on
  • 00:25:25
    numerous key projects. The amount of
  • 00:25:26
    knowledge I gained from this
  • 00:25:27
    relationship and the number of projects
  • 00:25:29
    that came out of this knowledge is
  • 00:25:30
    mind-blowing and the story on its own
  • 00:25:33
    dude.
  • 00:25:37
    Okay, so there was one good thing that
  • 00:25:40
    anime brought to the world. Okay, it's
  • 00:25:42
    not all dis degeneracy. There actually
  • 00:25:45
    is at least one good thing. We can all
  • 00:25:47
    agree there's one good story from it.
  • 00:25:50
    Here it is right here.
  • 00:25:52
    Congratulations. Uh life hack. Stalk
  • 00:25:55
    your heroes. Gaming social influence.
  • 00:25:57
    It's true. I mean, there it goes. Uh
  • 00:26:00
    jump the sociopathy uh shark there.
  • 00:26:04
    Yeah. I mean, for me, I feel
  • 00:26:06
    uncomfortable reading this. Just in all
  • 00:26:08
    reality, I do feel uncomfortable reading
  • 00:26:10
    this because I don't like the idea of
  • 00:26:12
    how easily I could be manipulated,
  • 00:26:14
    right? What's the difference between
  • 00:26:16
    this and a misborn soother, right? It's
  • 00:26:20
    it's all this guy's just a soother. He
  • 00:26:23
    just doesn't have the ability to cause
  • 00:26:25
    soothing and riding. Greyman level
  • 00:26:27
    infiltration. Dude, that's crazy. The
  • 00:26:30
    man's a greyman. Just walked by
  • 00:26:32
    everybody.
  • 00:26:33
    you. Uh, it's easy to be manipulated. It
  • 00:26:35
    is shocking easy to be manipulated. It
  • 00:26:37
    goes without saying that relationships
  • 00:26:39
    are needed on the product and business
  • 00:26:40
    sides, too. This is something that isn't
  • 00:26:42
    always possible depending on the company
  • 00:26:44
    you work in and how it is set up. And
  • 00:26:46
    writing about this here, I think, would
  • 00:26:49
    be mostly useless. There isn't any
  • 00:26:51
    methodology to follow on how to come off
  • 00:26:53
    as genuine and interesting. And the way
  • 00:26:56
    I make relationships in that space works
  • 00:26:58
    for me because I am who I am. Building
  • 00:27:01
    meaningful relationships with PMs to
  • 00:27:03
    senior vice presidents, etc. is
  • 00:27:05
    therefore left as an exercise to the
  • 00:27:06
    reader. True. Talk about baseball. Easy
  • 00:27:09
    peasy. Outcomes over the la over a few
  • 00:27:12
    months nearly every single time and
  • 00:27:14
    after going through this process, I
  • 00:27:15
    ended up being able to participate in
  • 00:27:17
    larger projects I'm interested in andor
  • 00:27:19
    I let's see am in a place where I've
  • 00:27:21
    gained enough trust and agency/space
  • 00:27:23
    that I can use it to barter to get to a
  • 00:27:26
    place I want to be in. That place
  • 00:27:28
    usually changes over time as I
  • 00:27:30
    understand more and more about the
  • 00:27:31
    company, its objectives, and the people
  • 00:27:32
    who compose it. I'm not saying that's
  • 00:27:34
    how your job should be treated as a game
  • 00:27:37
    of minmaxing and with it taking enormous
  • 00:27:39
    amounts of your awake time, but it is
  • 00:27:41
    what I enjoy doing. I don't want to
  • 00:27:43
    spend more time than I need sucking or
  • 00:27:46
    being told what to do versus having the
  • 00:27:48
    ability to just apply my intuition on
  • 00:27:50
    what are the most important things we
  • 00:27:52
    should be working on. Don't buy into the
  • 00:27:54
    popular and negatively uh conoted saying
  • 00:27:57
    that if you do more more work will come
  • 00:27:59
    unless that is something you want to
  • 00:28:01
    avoid. My entire mentality is that I
  • 00:28:04
    want to be in a position where people
  • 00:28:05
    ask more of me. So do the job, do it
  • 00:28:09
    well, do it fast, do it a lot and with
  • 00:28:11
    heart. Make relationships, make real
  • 00:28:13
    relationships, that is make friends if
  • 00:28:15
    possible, settle for trust uh allies who
  • 00:28:17
    are indebted to you everywhere else.
  • 00:28:19
    These relationships will lead to more
  • 00:28:21
    knowledge. This knowledge will lead to
  • 00:28:23
    concrete projects which will help you
  • 00:28:25
    rise. Rinse and repeat. Make sure you
  • 00:28:26
    stop before you end up in a 25 hours of
  • 00:28:28
    meeting a week. Easy. I would say that
  • 00:28:31
    there is, you know, even though I think
  • 00:28:33
    there is a little bit of like I'm not
  • 00:28:35
    sure what the the the the internal term
  • 00:28:37
    is for me. It's not I'm not reiling it,
  • 00:28:40
    but there maybe cringing is the best
  • 00:28:42
    term for it. I'm a bit of like I cringe
  • 00:28:44
    a little bit when I hear
  • 00:28:47
    such like consumeristic approaches. But
  • 00:28:50
    then at the exact same time, I sit here
  • 00:28:52
    and think the projects that I got onto
  • 00:28:55
    and the things that I wanted to work on.
  • 00:28:58
    I didn't do this. I didn't do these
  • 00:29:01
    things. He said I I I went with a
  • 00:29:02
    different approach, which was to produce
  • 00:29:04
    really good things and do it really
  • 00:29:05
    really fast and then to suggest how to
  • 00:29:07
    improve things. I was always suggesting
  • 00:29:09
    here, let's do this. Hey, let's do this.
  • 00:29:10
    I'd always work on side things and then
  • 00:29:12
    kind of present them and suggest them
  • 00:29:13
    and find the people that were the uh
  • 00:29:15
    influencers, if you will, at the job and
  • 00:29:17
    present my ideas, present my ideas. I'd
  • 00:29:19
    always try to be in the conversation
  • 00:29:20
    with the people that were making the big
  • 00:29:22
    um decisions because I wanted to be
  • 00:29:24
    there. I wanted them to see me. I wanted
  • 00:29:25
    to be able to say things. I wanted to be
  • 00:29:27
    able to present my ideas because I think
  • 00:29:29
    I'm pretty good at them. And so, by
  • 00:29:32
    having that, I think that that has
  • 00:29:33
    produced that that produced a lot of
  • 00:29:35
    really great stuff in me. And I think
  • 00:29:37
    this is very very adjacent to what he is
  • 00:29:39
    talking about. His uh his obviously is
  • 00:29:42
    like a lot more optimized shall we say
  • 00:29:45
    is probably the best word to say it. It
  • 00:29:47
    is absolutely optimized minmaxed to the
  • 00:29:50
    absolute nth degree. Um capitalism is a
  • 00:29:53
    hell of a drug. Well, this is not really
  • 00:29:54
    capitalism. This is just working with
  • 00:29:55
    people and trying to be able to get into
  • 00:29:56
    the positions you want because under no
  • 00:29:58
    because it doesn't matter what regime
  • 00:30:00
    you're
  • 00:30:01
    under. The ability to have freedom and
  • 00:30:04
    to be able to work on the things you
  • 00:30:06
    want to work on as opposed to constantly
  • 00:30:08
    being in this toldto cycle requires you
  • 00:30:10
    to have an elevated uh perception of who
  • 00:30:12
    you are. Yeah. And also in communism
  • 00:30:14
    people definitely don't try to
  • 00:30:15
    manipulate other people. That's
  • 00:30:16
    definitely not a thing that happens in
  • 00:30:17
    communism. That's a pure capitalism
  • 00:30:19
    thing only. Um, I will say that it's
  • 00:30:22
    hard for me to say no to this advice in
  • 00:30:24
    a sense that if I were to say that you
  • 00:30:26
    shouldn't work hard or you shouldn't
  • 00:30:28
    attempt to present your ideas or that
  • 00:30:30
    you shouldn't try to get in the same
  • 00:30:31
    rooms as the people making all the good
  • 00:30:33
    like all the good uh or the all big
  • 00:30:35
    decisions, it would kind of be unfair of
  • 00:30:37
    me cuz a lot of the ability for me to do
  • 00:30:40
    the things I've done came through
  • 00:30:43
    similarish behavior to this. by being
  • 00:30:46
    pleasant, by working hard, by making
  • 00:30:48
    suggestions, by trying to be in the
  • 00:30:50
    right rooms, by doing all those things,
  • 00:30:53
    I had a very good outcome. And so, it's
  • 00:30:56
    kind of this idea that I think you see
  • 00:30:58
    this a lot, especially online, is
  • 00:31:00
    there's these people that will work
  • 00:31:01
    like, you know, during their younger
  • 00:31:03
    years work like, you know, 190 hours in
  • 00:31:06
    a week, right? They're non-stop. They do
  • 00:31:08
    all this stuff and then when it comes
  • 00:31:10
    down to it later in their life when
  • 00:31:12
    they've achieved a lot and they have a
  • 00:31:13
    lot of easy success, they tell people
  • 00:31:15
    not to do all these things. They
  • 00:31:17
    effectively are like pulling up the
  • 00:31:18
    ladder in some sense behind them. They
  • 00:31:21
    found something that really really
  • 00:31:22
    worked and then they're telling you not
  • 00:31:23
    to do that. Oh no, no, you shouldn't do
  • 00:31:25
    that. You shouldn't do that. Don't try
  • 00:31:28
    to really come up with really great ways
  • 00:31:29
    to be a good co-orker and all this kind
  • 00:31:31
    of stuff. Don't work hard. You don't
  • 00:31:32
    need to do that. Right? And so I just
  • 00:31:34
    kind of feel like, you know, I used,
  • 00:31:37
    we'll say, half of these techniques to
  • 00:31:39
    get to where I'm I'm at. I did not go
  • 00:31:42
    full full boore into this. So careful.
  • 00:31:45
    You know, I think that's up to you. I
  • 00:31:47
    think genuinely here's like a here's
  • 00:31:49
    kind of like a little bit of a secret.
  • 00:31:50
    I'm going to say something that's
  • 00:31:51
    probably going to hurt a lot of people's
  • 00:31:52
    feelings. If you're just a likable
  • 00:31:54
    person, you can go a lot further. Like
  • 00:31:57
    you just have to be a nice person.
  • 00:31:59
    That's all you have to do. It's
  • 00:32:00
    absolutely true. Like that's going to
  • 00:32:03
    help you more than anything else. If you
  • 00:32:05
    respond to everybody with like one-word
  • 00:32:08
    answers on Slack and all of your
  • 00:32:10
    feedback is just highly critical, it's
  • 00:32:13
    shocking how little people are going to
  • 00:32:14
    like you. I know. It's like Pikachu
  • 00:32:16
    shocked face. It's shocking. And so I
  • 00:32:19
    think this is just one approach that you
  • 00:32:20
    can take. Honestly, this is just one
  • 00:32:22
    approach that you can take. Uh and I
  • 00:32:24
    think there's actually a lot of good
  • 00:32:25
    advice in this. And so interesting.
  • 00:32:28
    Interesting. Why don't you try writing
  • 00:32:30
    down some things that you found out
  • 00:32:31
    about your co-workers and all that? You
  • 00:32:33
    don't have to do it as a purely a um a
  • 00:32:36
    stalking project, finding out the
  • 00:32:38
    greatest person and doing that, but do
  • 00:32:39
    it because you you say you care. And
  • 00:32:41
    remember that and then you can ask them
  • 00:32:42
    again later on. And you'll find that you
  • 00:32:44
    create a much much better um um much
  • 00:32:47
    much better experience. Yeah. I'm not
  • 00:32:48
    going to I'm not going to read this um
  • 00:32:50
    uh some somebody said that there's no
  • 00:32:52
    manipulation under communism thing and
  • 00:32:53
    then that it only happens under
  • 00:32:55
    capitalism. I'm not going to read those
  • 00:32:57
    stupid comments because you have to be
  • 00:32:59
    brain dead to think that where there are
  • 00:33:01
    humans, depending on the rules, there
  • 00:33:02
    will or will not be manipulation and
  • 00:33:04
    social ladder climbing, right? It's it's
  • 00:33:06
    it's super stupid. It's it's like one of
  • 00:33:08
    those idealistics, super shallow Star
  • 00:33:11
    Trek future version, right? The reality
  • 00:33:13
    is if Star Trek existed, Jean Luke Bard
  • 00:33:15
    would have stabbed 900 people in the
  • 00:33:17
    back to get to the top of the
  • 00:33:18
    Enterprise. Like that's that's the
  • 00:33:20
    reality. Okay, I hear you. I hear you
  • 00:33:23
    want this this great world. That's just
  • 00:33:25
    not there. Greed exists in all
  • 00:33:27
    situations. Stop stop thinking that
  • 00:33:29
    there's some magic place that humans are
  • 00:33:31
    just going to be like, "Oh, I'm I don't
  • 00:33:33
    have any more greed. I'm a good guy
  • 00:33:37
    now." All you know, the fact that I used
  • 00:33:40
    to yell at my wife and sometimes when my
  • 00:33:42
    kid would ask me the same question 16
  • 00:33:43
    times, I'd freak out and have to
  • 00:33:44
    relearn.
  • 00:33:46
    Man, I guess that's all gone now. I'm
  • 00:33:50
    just a perfectly good human that
  • 00:33:51
    operates with absolutely no uh no
  • 00:33:54
    emotional no emotional variance. It was
  • 00:33:56
    actually just capitalism that made me
  • 00:33:58
    angry this whole time. Good luck. Okay,
  • 00:34:01
    that's just not how life works. Hate to
  • 00:34:03
    break it to you. Where did TJ go? Uh
  • 00:34:06
    there's also just uh this thing about
  • 00:34:08
    turn uh turning your engineer brain into
  • 00:34:09
    a useful tool for doing other tasks in
  • 00:34:12
    life. Iterating on how to be better at
  • 00:34:14
    these things is fine. You have to work
  • 00:34:16
    hard at being nice and friendly. Anyone
  • 00:34:18
    can do it. Yeah, there is something
  • 00:34:18
    really cool about that. I guess it
  • 00:34:20
    depends on how you're thinking about,
  • 00:34:21
    you know, when he says all these things.
  • 00:34:23
    I I I mentioned this earlier that it the
  • 00:34:26
    other side of this is just trying to be
  • 00:34:27
    a good co-orker to other people and
  • 00:34:30
    knowing what they like and don't like,
  • 00:34:32
    right? Like I know my wife likes certain
  • 00:34:34
    behaviors. So, it's not a sociopath for
  • 00:34:37
    me to do things I don't like because I
  • 00:34:40
    know my wife likes it. It's called being
  • 00:34:42
    a good husband. And so you could extend
  • 00:34:44
    this type of behavior, add infidum to
  • 00:34:48
    every type of person. And it's very,
  • 00:34:50
    very simple. It's just like, hey, this
  • 00:34:52
    is how you be a good co-orker. Hey, this
  • 00:34:54
    is how you be a good friend. Hey, this
  • 00:34:56
    is how you be a good all these things,
  • 00:34:58
    right? And don't be nice because it gets
  • 00:34:59
    you what you want. Be nice because it's
  • 00:35:01
    the best outcome for everyone. Um, I'd
  • 00:35:03
    say both. I mean, that's the reality is
  • 00:35:05
    if you want something that's
  • 00:35:06
    sustainable, most people aren't going to
  • 00:35:09
    continuously sacrifice non-stop. Like
  • 00:35:12
    people are like the reality is you will
  • 00:35:14
    be nice and you will it will not be okay
  • 00:35:16
    for you and you're going to have to make
  • 00:35:18
    that choice from time to time. Sometimes
  • 00:35:19
    you got to do that. Being nice is not
  • 00:35:21
    always the best outcome. It's true.
  • 00:35:24
    Anyways, real advice is to make friends
  • 00:35:25
    who will get on a call with you and play
  • 00:35:27
    botro for two hours. That's true. Be
  • 00:35:30
    handsome and attractive and don't be
  • 00:35:31
    unattractive. That's actually one of the
  • 00:35:32
    easier ways also is uh lift weights,
  • 00:35:36
    exercise, be attractive. Wow. Get a
  • 00:35:40
    six-pack abs. I mean, I should listen to
  • 00:35:41
    my own advice.
Etiquetas
  • social capital
  • burnout
  • onboarding
  • relationships
  • workplace dynamics
  • collaboration
  • peer reviews
  • career success
  • teamwork
  • communication