Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – Concession Operator (1988-1989)
Loyalty is only ever earned.
Treating people like children, makes them act like children.
Punishing people for making mistakes, makes them hide their mistakes.
When you aren’t allowed to sit, your feet hurt at the end of the day.
Lycra flatters no one.
Dunedin Montessori – Janitor (1991-1993)
It’s easy to be lazy.
The flexibility to manage your own time is invaluable.
Having a job you could do stoned isn’t the pinnacle of achievement you once dreamed of.
Earthlight Communications – Owner (1993-1997)
Superb customer service can win you a lot of customer loyalty, but few will pay extra for it.
Growing a small business into a large business requires taking enormous risks.
Small, tight knit teams are vastly more effective than large ones.
Good judgement under pressure is a learned skill.
It’s harder to teach social skills than it is to teach technical skills.
Internet Alaska – Team Lead (1997-2000)
Working so hard that you don’t sleep, doesn’t make anything better.
If the owners of the company can’t work together … run far away.
When a company succeeds, there comes a time when the founders must delegate many of their previous responsibilities. Letting this moment slide by unnoticed, can be fatal.
It doesn’t matter how good your reputation or product is if you can’t bill effectively.
A great manager can make all the difference.
Surviving the loss of a key person is never as hard as you think it will be.
A good manager puts their teams needs before their own and shelters their team from the pressures above.
Sometimes managing your friends really sucks.
Threatening to do the ridiculous will sometimes get things done.
Metstream – Principal Engineer (2000-2001)
Experienced businessmen can be worth their weight in gold.
There is an art to being pushy.
Big dreams take big balls.
It doesn’t matter how awesome your technology stack is if your ROI is longer than your hardware replacement cycle.
Pixelworks – Systems Administrator (2001-2003)
The one thing that managers hate, more than anything else, is being surprised.
Working in a cost centre means that you, and your job, are at best a second priority.
In a support role your primary job isn’t to do your job well, it’s to maximise other peoples ability to do their job well.
Engineers don’t like being wrong.
If people don’t understand what you do, and why it’s important, you will not be rewarded.
Being conscientious and staying focused is far more important than being smart.
It’s possible to get accustomed to anything. Make bloody sure you are aware of what you’ve become accustomed to.
Personal Telco – President (2000-2003)
More than any other single thing, being successful at something means not giving up.
Everything takes longer than you expect. Lots longer.
In a volunteer based non-profit people don’t have the shared goal of making money. Instead each contributor has their own personal agenda which motivates their participation.
Unfortunately “dreaming big” is more fun and less work than “doing big”.
Process matters. How you get there will effect not only the end result, but how people feel about the end result.
Email is “guaranteed” to evoke the worst possible response from someone, especially during conflict.
Had to respond Adam! Agree with everything on here. So insightful! Not sure about the suit thing though Adam. I love my suits! It’s a pity we have all become so very casual in our appearance.
4 Comments
Add Yours →Had to respond Adam! Agree with everything on here. So insightful! Not sure about the suit thing though Adam. I love my suits! It’s a pity we have all become so very casual in our appearance.
Thanks Pat! I think I got giggles because people had only ever seen me in jandals and tshirts! Perils of the tech industry … 🙂
That’s an outstanding list. Thank you. I need to think about writing one myself.
Thanks Matt. Tell me when you write yours. 🙂