December 5th, 2008
by Tim Cull
I like to think of myself as a decent photographer, which is why I immediately identified with this post on courageous sucking. If nothing else, it taught me that I’m not really such a great photographer because I still feel like a complete idiot when I get down on the floor to take a picture, even if I know the picture will be good.
But after a few days mulling it, I realized it actually applies even better to my career. Almost without exception, the biggest leaps in my career came when I took promotions I didn’t feel totally qualified for. In most cases I was wrong, but thankfully had a boss who knew better. In one case, I was entirely right, and boy did that suck, even though I learned a ton.
The courageous sucking part of your career, though, is that part where you’ve stepped into this leadership role you don’t feel ready for, you’re making (what feels like) mistake after mistake, and to top it all off you’re doing it in front of people. You’re not a solo coder any more who can go hide in a corner. Instead you feel like a ship’s figurehead, lashed there right on the bow taking every stinging, cold wave right in the jaw. Next to learning to delegate, making mistakes in front of people might be the second most difficult leadership skill to learn.
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December 5th, 2008
by Tim Cull
You many have heard of the concept of “Next Action Lists” which are a part of the Getting Things Done methodology. I don’t really use the methodology, but I do use something that vaguely resembles the Next Action part of it. And I’ve found that a really useful Next Action is just looking up people’s phone numbers and writing them down.
Imagine this item is in your todo list:
–Finish Functional View diagram for Currency Trading system
And for the sake of argument you have that item in a vanilla Outlook Task.
As part of creating that functional view, maybe you need to call three different people and ask them some questions. I’ve found that often just having to look up those people’s phone number is a big enough excuse to make me put off that task. It’s stupid, I know, but it’s just the way it is and I bet there are lots of people out there just like me.
So, I’ve gotten in the habit of making this my Next Action:
–Look up the phone numbers of everyone I have to call and put them in the Outlook Task.
That’s a really small action. It doesn’t have any of the mental baggage involved in preparing yourself to (gasp) actually talk to another human being. You don’t have to think about what you’re going to say or ask, or if that person likes you, or if they’re in town or out on vacation, or where you’re going to write down what they say, or anything. You just have to look up their phone number and put it in the same place where you’ve recorded your task.
That’s it. But here’s the genius: six times out of ten, I’ll look up the phone numbers, write them down, and then immediately pick up the phone and call one of them. There’s something about those numbers staring you in the face that’s just too inviting. Try it out!
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