Hacking Spacetime for a Successful Career

We talk a lot about building well-crafted software. But what about a well-crafted career in software? Who is making sure you’re on track for the life you want five, ten, thirty years from now?

We’ll build a time machine and follow a typical development career through various tracks, and see how a few basic principles can radically alter your career’s trajectory over time.

If you’ve ever felt the existential dread of “climbing the walls” at your job, you’re not alone. We’ll explore why and share some concrete steps you can take now to create a long, happy, rewarding career.

Transcript

1. Welcome to the wetware track
3. “Climbing The Walls” by they might be giants
4. HACKING SPACETIME FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER “It’s time to go, Marty!” “To go where, Doc?”
5. Brandon Hays Coffee > Code Conversion Dept. The Frontside @tehviking
7. CLIMBING THE WALLS
8. Me, every 9 months
9. (Except this mega subtweet) NOT HERE TO TELL MY STORY
10. We are givING SERIOUSLY BAD ADVICE
12. WARNING! Bummer alert!
13. Achievement is a system of COntrol
14. The world doesn’t want your happiness, Just your output
15. redcupwars.com
16. LET’S DETONATE The idea that You’re “supposed” to do something with your career
17. Leading Vs. Trailing Metrics
18. Leading MEtrics º Hours worked º Conversations with new people º Lines of code written deleted º Value created º Works published
19. Trailing Metrics º Income º Titles º Degrees º Recognition º Influence
20. LET’S PLAY A GAME
21. 1. Choose baseline stats 2. Stock inventory 3. View results 4. Fast-forward/ rewind time HOW TO PLAY
22. Skill Connection Vision 2: Pick Stats Baseline/How we’re wired
23. Desire to grow one’s capability to solve difficult problems and help others do the same Technical Skill
24. Desire to connect people and ideas to solve existing problems in new ways Connection
25. VISION Desire to solve entirely new problems & reshape the world
26. Layers of abstraction
27. Technical Skill: Computer connection: people Vision: industry/society
28. 3: Choose Inventory Choices/Leading metrics
29. Thorough understanding of your present value in your current situation Item 1: Leverage
30. Item 2: Ambition Accepting the future value you have the potential to create
31. Item 3: Education The internal investment you make in your own capabilities
32. Item 4: Community The external investment you make in those around you & the world
33. Item 5: Dedication The amount of effort applied to the previous four items
34. THE FORMULA understand your present value + understand your future value + invest in yourself + invest in others x amount of effort you put in = YOUR PLATFORM
35. 4: View Results Income Stress Free Time Satisfaction Impact Outcomes/Trailing metrics
36. 5: Time travel Changes over time
37. 9 folks, 9 stories
39. SCENARIO 1 "Please leave me alone so I can code."
40. Code slinger "Please leave me alone so I can code."
41. Check for the snarky T-shirt
42. SCENARIO 2 "Climb the ladder and wait your turn."
43. Cat herder "Climb the ladder and wait your turn."
44. Learning to delegate
45. SCENARIO 3 "I just don't want a boss."
46. Harried Freelancer "I just don't want a boss."
47. Gotta hustle every day
48. SCENARIO 4 "I have something important to say."
49. Thought Leader "I have something important to say."
50. Shiny Code by Uncle Bill Williams
51. SCENARIO 4
52. SCENARIO 5 "How can I provide the most value?"
53. Product Manager "How can I provide the most value?"
54. Hope you like conference calls!
55. SCENARIO 6 "Let's build the company I always wanted to work at."
56. Lifestyle Biz Founder "Let's build the company I always wanted to work at."
57. TFW the business makes money while you sleep
58. SCENARIO 7 "Let's build better software together."
59. Chief Architect "Let's build better software together."
60. Engineering matters.
61. SCENARIO 8 "Let's solve an important problem together."
62. Badass CTO "Let's solve an important problem together."
63. teamwork makes the dream work
64. SCENARIO 9 "We're going to change the world."
65. Visionary CEO "We're going to change the world."
66. Running a Business
68. 3 types, 3 tracks
69. Technician: Tools & tactics manager: People & Strategy entrepreneur: invention & vision
70. Track 1: technician Skill Connection Vision
71. Fascination: Tools & Technique Asks: “How” Focus: Tactics & Implementation Track 1: technician
72. Track 2: manager Skill Connection Vision
73. Fascination: People Asks: “Who, when, where, what?” Focus: Strategy & Connection Track 2: manager
74. Track 3: entrepreneur Skill Connection Vision
75. Fascination: Gaps in the world Asks: “Why”, “Why not?” Focus: Vision & Invention Track 3: entrepreneur
76. DREAM BIG
77. Mid Dev Keynote Speaker Sr. Dev Chief Architect Distinguished Dev Dev Evangelist Author/ Speaker Junior Dev Dev Manager Project Manager Freelance Dev Solopreneur Startup Founder Small Business CEO Founder, 3rd company Chairperson of the Board Director of Product Engineering/ Team Lead VP of Product Director/VP Engineering CTO Developer Manager Entrepreneur Founder, 2nd company
78. a note about bailing out early
79. So: which one are you? (hint: all of them)
80. What Work do you do when stresSED? Get back into code? Grab lunch with programmer friends? Sketch up a new app idea?
81. A lot of arguments in software stem from misunderstanding the different values among these 3 types.
82. Similar ideas Hipster, Hustler, Hacker http://www.forbes.com/sites/andyellwood/2012/08/22/ the-dream-team-hipster-hacker-and-hustler Pioneer, Settler, Town Planner http://blog.gardeviance.org/2012/06/pioneers-settlers-and- town-planners.html Entrepreneur, Manager, Technician The E-Myth Revisited: http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth- Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
83. getting different results within A track Leverage Ambition Education Community Dedication ? ? ? ? ?
84. Your PLATFORM How people see you helping them Builds up as you go along, intentionally or not
85. your platform is a voltron Built of several pieces Exists as a separate entity Works for you autonomously
86. Remember THE FORMULA understand your present value + understand your future value + invest in yourself + invest in others x amount of effort you put in = YOUR PLATFORM
87. WARNING: MARKETING SPEAK AHEAD
88. Know your value http://blog.optimizationgroup.com/how-to-shift-from- a-cost-plus-to-a-value-based-pricing-strategy
89. Know your value Your salary $ Added (profit) Marketing Etc.* *etc. includes recruiting, branding, sales, reduction of uncertainty, and more. Opportunity (negotiable)
90. Look for extremely informal educational opportunities Invest in yourself
91. Invest in others Meetups Mentorship Open Source Lunches Lightning talks Listening Being a friend Tackling non- Silicon-Valley problems
92. Scale your efforts
93. It’s OK to STEER BY FEEL (and crash)
94. 3 things I learned
95. 1: You can opt out of the cycle
96. Skill Connection Vision 2: your preferences are your friends
97. Playing to strengths vs. Working on Weaknesses
98. 3: Build the platform you want to live with
99. 3: Build the platform you want to live with
100. achievement unlocked: Overcoming achievement
101. be a polyglot craftsperson. Run a popular open source project. quit your job and start a company.
103. Overlap between what you want to do & what you actually do SO WHAT IS SUCCESS?
107. Lastly...
108. I’ve received a tremendous amount of help from a ton of people. The last 6 years
109. I had help making the app for this talk! Thanks, @lydiaguarino
110. Please recognize and take advantage of the opportunities you see to help others build their own platforms. Extending a hand
112. @tehviking THANKS! The Frontside