Be a doer, not a talker (Part 2)
I just reread a post I wrote from a little over a year ago title Be a doer, not a talker. A year later, it's refreshing to see myself taking my own advice. I've worked incredibly hard the past year - both in designing and building an app at work that I'm super proud of and in teaching myself Swift in my spare time and building the first app that I connected, designed, and built entirely myself (coming soon to iTunes!). About 2 months after I wrote this post I made a major gamble on taking a job working on a new stealth wearable product. It will not see the the light of day, but I've learned so much in this experience that it was all well worth it. And finally, my crazy decision back in 2012 to leave my comfort zone and my family and follow a girl to California has all been worth it. So glad I followed my heart - we get married in less than two months :-).
#4 - Work very hard—a surprising number of people will be offended that you choose to work hard—but not so hard that the rest of your life passes you by. Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally. Even if you miss, you’ll probably end up in a pretty good place.
#10 - However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along you should take it. Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless. One of the benefits of working hard is that good opportunities will come along, but it’s still up to you to jump on them when they do.
#17 - If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it. Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do. When in doubt, kiss the boy/girl.
#25 - Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you were a teenager? Love him/her that intensely now. Remember how excited and happy you got about stuff as a kid? Get that excited and happy now.
Be a doer, not a talker
That's #32 on Sam Altman's list of things learned before turning 30. There are many of these lists out there, but this is one of the best ones I've seen in a while. Here are a few that really resonated with me:
#4 - Work very hard—a surprising number of people will be offended that you choose to work hard—but not so hard that the rest of your life passes you by. Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally. Even if you miss, you’ll probably end up in a pretty good place.
#10 - However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along you should take it. Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless. One of the benefits of working hard is that good opportunities will come along, but it’s still up to you to jump on them when they do.
#17 - If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it. Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do. When in doubt, kiss the boy/girl.
#25 - Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you were a teenager? Love him/her that intensely now. Remember how excited and happy you got about stuff as a kid? Get that excited and happy now.
See the full list here.
Leading a Team as a PM
I love building software and seeing as I've thus far decided to be a generalist in my career that has usually meant that I'm a PM for a team of specialists. Managing projects should never really be easy; if you find yourself coasting that likely means you are being far too conservative. If you are struggling, Robbie Abed recently published a great essay on Project Management that hit upon many of the same things I've learned thus far in my career, especially the two philosophies he lives by as a PM:
- My #1 job is to make everyone's life around me easier.
- My #2 job is to make everyone else around me look good.
I could not agree more with these philosophies, especially #1. I believe in being fully transparent with my teams, but at the same time I strive to do whatever is possible to let those in my team avoid the distractions and focus on the work they are best at. I shield them, baby them, spoil them. Need help with writing that script? Sure, send it my way. Need me to waste an hour debugging some slow running query? Here you go, this join is causing us some problems. Need a quick wireframe for that page? Just give me a few minutes. It's one way for me to not drift too far from the details of the project, but it also earns a lot of respect from those I work with who can focus on other stuff that only they can deliver.
I can also think of a few people I've worked with that at first I didn't really see eye to eye with. Robbie writes:
There is no such thing as a difficult person on a project. It's just someone who you don't understand why they act the way they do. Understand their motives. Understand why they are being difficult. Understand how you can make their lives easier. Understand what makes them happy. Ask how you can help them. If you make their life easier, you will become best friends with them and they will give you everything you need in a timely fashion.
On a personal level, I naturally enjoy making people happy. As a PM, I enjoy my team being as effective as possible. Usually these go hand in hand. Finding what motivates someone can take a little time, but it is totally worth the effort. One team member always enjoyed the free food I'd bring back from the common area, another liked the detailed specs I'd write, many appreciated the hours I'd spend answering questions even though they knew I was super busy. Empathy and compassion will go a long way towards earning the respect of one's team and more often than not delivering solid products.
The Internet Still Amazes Me
It's been a while since I last wrote, yet I've had three random encounters with my blog in the past few months. Each has left me a little weirded out (random people are reading my writing?), but mostly just excited that someone else has taken interest in my perspective despite no attempt to publicize my writing or even write regularly.
First, a woman emailed me asking if there was ever an end to the sciatica pain I started experiencing in the summer of 2011 and wrote about here. In short, there is hope for it to lesson, although more than 2 years after I wrote that I am still experiencing pain. Oddly, running my first ever marathon is what reduced the pain for me most (still can't explain that one). Then, someone asked if I would sell them a print of the Zakim Bridge photo that I took in Boston a few years back. I was flattered, and ended up sending the photo in exchange for them making a small donation to the charity of their choice. I still think that is one of the coolest photos I've seen of that bridge, and it looks pretty great printed on 
canvas above our bed. Today, I exchanged a few tweets with a developer here in San Francisco that is struggling with the same thing I have been: Is it better to specialize or generalize? I've decided to not go for a dev or design bootcamp and instead continue looking for a product manager or technical project manager position in an industry I'm passionate about. I enjoy all the elements of building products (whether it's design, leading others, getting into the details, planning, or executing) too much to focus on just one area. I know that when I do find the right role for me (and I am crushing it there) I will share some good laughs with my boss about any hesitation they had in hiring me.
This all brings me back to how much the internet still amazes me to this day. It makes it so easy to connect with random strangers around a shared idea, struggle, or photo by just putting a few words up on a blog or writing a 140 character Tweet. The transparency that more and more companies are now embracing (see the Buffer "open salary formula") is becoming the standard way that young and innovative companies are doing business. I love it - sharing what you have learned or struggled with in order to help others is a beautiful thing.