Doing well at work
simple things that one should do
While intended for tech, all should be applicable to all domains. In the age of AI and what’s about to happen to your role, there are some really simple and straightforward traits that are valued over the rest. Here are the traits one should embody to do well at work.
Deliver outcomes - at the end that’s one thing that will separate you out from others
Be competent - if you are an MLE - be the best MLE, if you are a backend engineer, be the best backend engineer, if you are a product manager, be the best product manager one can be
Be reliable - be the person who gets called when things don’t work, joins the call, and helps fix the problem. be the person that gets called into to solve a problem and solve the problem
Be multi disciplinary - in this economy - you just can’t be an engineer, or a product manager or program manager - having a sense of the overall - will guide you to excel at what you can do
Know what’s expected of you and deliver on them - before doing something that’s not expected of you, first do the things that are expected of you
And do more - everyone’s expected to do what they are expected to do, go the extra mile
Be resilient and antifragile - when shit hits the fan, be the one who’s calmer and takes on the stressors, iterate rapidly, and let disruption sharpen your edge
Be approachable to work with - be easy to work with, be nice to the extent that you’re not penalized for it. Nobody wants to work with people they can’t get along with
Work on what’s important for the company and the management - solve the hardest problem, and align them with the ones that are actually important to the company. Beyond your immediate deliverable, map how it fits the bigger roadmap, customer journey, or P&L
Continue learning - or get left behind
High agency - everything is yours to conquer, having high agency will help you do anything without letting your mind become the blocker
Don’t get the process slow you down on doing something important - a stable system will have processes, and most are beneficial. That doesn’t mean one should not be ok with the lengthy processes for you to do your job. You can simplify the process or keep your head down and accept the challenge
Don’t crib on wrong things - nobody likes a complaining cry baby, if you see yourself cribbing about every other thing, either fix it or find some place that makes you crib little less
Regularly solicit candid feedback - and give it constructively. Both you and your team need to grow together. Don’t live in your mind and in silo.
Move very fast, and try not to break things - you are bound to break things if your pace is high, work on minimizing that, work on simpler solutions that scale well and solve the business problem
Communicate effectively - tailor your style to reach the right audience, and speak up and contribute