A passion for programming. Chapter 23. Be in Your Place

As a manager, I can tell you that the most confusing employee is the one who always wants to be promoted. You probably know these: no lunch with him will not do without talking about who will move up the career ladder. He always has some office gossip that he is willing to share, he always discusses corporate policy, as if this is the storyline of a soap opera, for which he has a painful and sinful addiction. He complains about the incompetence of the company's management, reluctantly does his job with his teeth, with full confidence that he would cope with the work of his superiors much better than they. They are just too stupid to understand its potential.

He considers many tasks below his dignity. And he avoids them when he can or is doing with reluctance (in addition slowly) when he cannot refuse. He grabs a job that, he thinks, perhaps subconsciously, corresponds to his level and can bring him closer to the next boost.
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Be ambitious, but don't show it too much.

The sad thing is that this guy lives the next job, he usually performs mediocre and boring tasks at the current position. For me, it's like mowing a lawn. I hate mowing the lawn. It makes me itchy and itchy. Even worse, if it does not allow me to do more interesting things for me. You can hire lawn mowers. I was one of those guys. It was a long time ago, now I’ve finished with this, I grew up. So, what do I usually do when I have to mow the lawn? I'm in hurry. I work sloppy. I spend all the time thinking about how to finish quickly, and move on to what I would prefer to do. In short, I'm cutting the lawn just awful.

It’s good that in my example with a lawn mower no one looks at what I do and does not appreciate the quality (by the way, my wife got pretty angry because I am no longer responsible for the lawn in front of the house). This is only my problem if the lawn does not look great when done with it. No one is holding me back from becoming a “bad lawnmower” because of such productivity in the yard. In the case of working in IT, exactly the same behavior can lead to a career catastrophe. Returning to our friend from the previous paragraph, think about how the management will evaluate it? Will they see its underestimated magnificence? Decide whether to raise? Can much raise the salary to make happy?

Of course not. He is an ordinary worker with a bad attitude. And so what , that he has great potential! He doesn't show it right now. The company does not earn on the potential. Shareholders will not give an investment unless they see a potential. Moreover, such an attitude will create a desire among the authorities to stop investing in such an employee .

So this is the point of view of the authorities. Now, of course, I condemn such behavior with little guilt. I was that guy for a while. From his side, everything does not look very bright. You spend all your time waiting for something. Craving is the opposite of pleasure. You wake up in the morning and go to the "hated job" where no one understands your potential. You work with indignation, at the same time sorting out ideas how to move higher. You fantasize about what you would have done in the latter situation, when your direct boss failed - you would have done it right. You put off real life at work until you do what you like in the position you deserve.

The secret is that this feeling will always be with you. If you ever get a big promotion that you have dreamed of, then you will get tired quickly and you will understand that this is not the kind of work that you wanted - the one you expect will be in the next position. And the cycle repeats. I still have not reached the summit, but I have a strong feeling that if there was a peak and I reached it, I would look back and realize that I was chasing a ghost. What a surprisingly pointless waste of professional time.

But shouldn't we be ambitious? Would corporations like Microsoft and General Electric have appeared if great entrepreneurs didn't have their ambitions and goals?

Of course it is. I do not advocate apathetic views of the future. Having goals is good, the desire to succeed is also good. But think about the other side, the offended guy, whom I described at the beginning of the chapter. Do you think that guy will be one of those who succeed? Obviously not. By focusing on the present you will move further towards your goal than if you focused on the goal itself.

At first it sounds difficult. Even monastic. “Drop the daily path to success” is like an ascetic, unattainable goal. However, you will realize that this is very pragmatic. Focusing on the future will allow you to enjoy small victories in your daily life: a feeling of well-done work, a feeling of pleasure from being invited as an expert in solving
critical business problems, the feeling that you are the key person in the team - the one who sets the direction. You lose it if you are always in the clouds. You will always wait for something significant , skipping the small events that occur every day and make your work worthwhile.

Not only will you begin to feel better - others will notice and feel the same. Your colleagues, management and customers will feel it. Changes will appear in the way you work. No matter how strange this statement may seem, but the rejection of the passionate desire to achieve the goal as a result will increase your ability to succeed in achieving it.

You are close to your clients, close to your superiors, close to those who make decisions and influence your career in the short and possibly long term. Developers from India and the Philippines are deprived of this advantage, but you have it. So be in your place.

Act!

For a week, set aside your career goals. Record goals for the current position. Instead of thinking about the next promotion, think about which task you would like to accomplish after completing the current one. What can be done on the current job? Come up with a strategic and tactical plan. Spend a week on its implementation in order to “end” this post in the future. During breaks and lunches with colleagues, focus on your current goals. Try to keep yourself and colleagues away from talking about boosts, office politics and gossip.

At the end of the week, note how well you are progressing towards these goals. How long will you work until you reach the feeling that you have done everything you need in the current location? How do you know that you have already finished? Plan next week and repeat everything from the beginning.

About transfer

This is a translation of the 23rd chapter of the book The Passionate Programmer: Creating a Remarkable Career in Software Development. Its author, Chad Fowler, is a talented Ruby developer, a renowned speaker at conferences dedicated to Ruby and IT in general. Former saxophonist, and now - CTO 6Wunderkinder.