Offseason Discussion: What's the Best Career or Workplace Advice You Ever Got?

[4Q Basket Case]

Thought this would be a good offseason discussion.

What's the best career or workplace advice you ever got?

I'll throw out two:

1. Never go to your boss with a problem unless you have at least two viable solutions. Your boss has gazillions of people regurgitating problems into his or her lap and asking, "What do you want me to do?"

But if you not only recognize a problem, but offer solutions as well, he or she will want to hug you. Your boss will make time to talk through the options. Even if you end up having to modify your proposal, you've identified yourself as a solver, not simply an order taker.

You also develop a problem-solving mindset. Trust me, that will stand out like a sunrise compared to the majority of people your boss deals with. Do that a few times and pretty soon, you'll be getting requests for input from both your boss and your colleagues. You'll be well on your way to more responsibility and all the tangible rewards that go with that.

2. If a colleague helps you out or is a major contributor on a successful team project, be sure to thank them. But don't leave it at that. Let their boss know how much they helped. Just sent an email to your colleague's boss and copy your colleague.

If you simply thank the person who helped you, they'll appreciate it and move on. If you let their boss know how much difference they made, they won't just appreciate it. They're remember it, remember you, and want to work with you again. It's one tool among many to build an internal network.

I wish I'd gotten both of those tidbits earlier in my career.

 

[BamaSC]

You can make someone else a lot of money working for them, or you can (hopefully) make yourself a lot of money working for yourself. Few people can do that from the get-go because you gotta learn the ropes, and it's scary and risky to leave (what seems to be) a stable job/paycheck to go on your own.

I spent the first 4 years of my professional career at a pretty good-size insurance IT firm (about 5k employees). There I learned the benefits of structure and downfalls of being too rigid to move fast enough. I left them for a much smaller IT shop that can best be described as slightly post start-up.

Over the next 14 years, I made that owner a LOT of money while only making my salary, but also learned the benefits of moving fast without all the bureaucracy and the pitfalls of moving too fast.

I left that about 10 years ago to start our own healthcare IT shop with 2 other partners taking the knowledge I learned with me. Our primary company launched a second company that has now actually gotten bigger. It's not a lifestyle for people that want a 40-hour week and a lot of vacation, but is rewarding in so many other ways.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

You can make someone else a lot of money working for them, or you can (hopefully) make yourself a lot of money working for yourself. Few people can do that from the get-go because you gotta learn the ropes, and it's scary and risky to leave (what seems to be) a stable job/paycheck to go on your own.

I spent the first 4 years of my professional career at a pretty good-size insurance IT firm (about 5k employees). There I learned the benefits of structure and downfalls of being too rigid to move fast enough. I left them for a much smaller IT shop that can best be described as slightly post start-up.

Over the next 14 years, I made that owner a LOT of money while only making my salary, but also learned the benefits of moving fast without all the bureaucracy and the pitfalls of moving too fast.

I left that about 10 years ago to start our own healthcare IT shop with 2 other partners taking the knowledge I learned with me. Our primary company launched a second company that has now actually gotten bigger. It's not a lifestyle for people that want a 40-hour week and a lot of vacation, but is rewarding in so many other ways.

Your last sentence makes a good point.

There are advantages and disadvantages for both the large corporate world and the small-company setup. What's best for each individual depends a lot on how your mind is hard-wired.

While I admire the agility of small companies and envied them when I was sitting in yet another pointless meeting, my mind just doesn't work the way that a successful small businessman's does. I need more structure.

You, on the other hand, seem to appreciate both. You understand the stability, structure and succession planning that a large corporation offers. But that does come with some rigidity and clumsiness in adoption of new ideas and adaptation to a changing business environment.

Small companies are exactly the opposite. But the nimbleness can also be a weakness if it pivots to a new strategy, but hasn't properly vetted that strategy. That might work once or twice, but eventually flying by the seat of your pants will blow up. The trick is to not bet the company on any one new idea. Thing is, that runs counter to the entrepreneurial mindset.

I think the best combination is the entrepreneur who has a strong second-in-command who keeps the visionary from building castles in the sky. And the visionary actually values, listens to, and acts on the slightly (only slightly) more restrained method of operation.

The business equivalent of the political adage that the best revolutionaries are seldom the best peacetime leaders.