
Life and Career Lessons – 2012 - codercowboy
http://www.codercowboy.com/2013/01/04/life-career-lessons-2012/
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arscan
Thanks for this post. I expected a fluff lunchtime read here; a quick bulleted
list of platitudes that you see over and over again this time of the year. But
it really was a very well told, personal and clearly authentic story of your
year and the hard-learned lessons you learned along the way. It reminds me of
the power of a story. I think we tend to jump right to the TL;DR these days,
but in a rush to condense everything into concise take-aways, we lose
something along the way.

>> _...stick with me, this’ll be worth it._

Glad I did, and I definitely think it was.

I don't have much to add regarding the actual content. Some of these lessons
I've learned as well (salespeople are surprisingly great, right?), some I
haven't. I just felt like this post deserved more praise than a simple upvote.

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seanoliver
This is why I read Hacker News. Every now and then you find something so
candid and real that it makes you sit back for a moment afterward and really
consider the decisions you're making and the things you're focused on.

Thanks for sharing.

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j_baker
I don't agree with the OP's definition of "asshole". Some people set a higher
standard, and this oftentimes rubs people the wrong way. It's a mistake to
label these people assholes, because they usually serve a valid purpose.

The people that you really have to watch out for are the Machiavellian
assholes who care nothing about the job at hand and will do anything to cut
others down for their own aggrandizement.

~~~
codercowboy
from one jason m baker to another, hello :)

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gz5
Great essay, much better than the usual year-in-review.

Re: telecommute and resultant lack of face time, highly recommend non-
purposeful video/audio calls - video ping me just to chat.

Took me 5+ years of being a remote worker to learn the value of those - they
sub to some degree for the random hallway/kitchen type conversations of the
office. Very different experience from the audio/video of the normal remote
meetings, and helpful in making up for the lack of face time.

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codex
What's great about this post is that it's a win/win: the author gets a lot of
value out of simply crystalizing his thoughts on paper, and readers share that
benefit.

I'd encourage everyone to write as much as they can (especially periodic
reflections), as writing something like this probably gives you 10x the value
of reading it.

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michaelochurch
Usually, these "about my year" posts are filler, but this was some excellent
stuff. Thanks for sharing it. That takes courage.

 _I’m not advocating ladder climbers, I’m not advocating jerks being jerks for
the sake of jerktitude, I’m just saying, they have a place, and when you find
the right asshole, they’re going to deliver and kick ass while doing it. The
delicious irony will be, 5 years from now when your midsize is larger than
midsize, the asshole who everyone hates will be the only executive of the lot
who arguably deserves his merit badge title. Think on that._

Yup. I call this the "DFA Light". DFA = Done Fucking Around.
[http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/flow-
ownershi...](http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/flow-ownership-
and-insubordination-plus-d-f-a/) DFA usually means that in 6 months, you'll
either be running something or fired.

On open-plan offices:

What you describe isn't open plan. Open plan is this horrible bullpen where
everyone's visible and no one has personal space. It sucks.
[http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/no-idiot-
disc...](http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/no-idiot-discomfort-
is-bad/)

What you want is for people to have laptops, and have private offices for
people who need them, and open/communal spaces. I worked at a think-tank that
had 3:00 tea (with board games that occasionally went till 7:00) and it was
brilliant. Let people choose whether they work in the open or in private. Work
space is not to be skimped on. 150 SF per person of private and 150 SF of
communal. It pays for itself, because typical open plan offices reduce
productivity by 50-80%. This hybrid-plan is something Google does extremely
well (although it's technically cubicle-based, anyone who wants privacy can
take an office).

On getting fired: there are good fires and bad fires. I won't share my
"number" but its nonzero on both sides (being fired and participating in
firing) and I've seen good and bad.

A good fire is when they treat it as a no-fault lack-of-fit, come up with a
reasonable severance (depending on their finances, this could be zero for a
cash-strapped startup, or ~6 months for a rich corporation) and a positive
reference. Then it's just a breakup: good people break up with each other all
the time. A bad fire is when they cold-fire you and refuse to support your
career recovery needs.

For me, it's really about references. I don't _need_ a severance, but if you
don't agree on a good reference I will do everything in my power to fuck up
your reputation. No or bad reference => war.

~~~
gruseom
_if you don't agree on a good reference I will do everything in my power to
fuck up your reputation_

But what if you don't deserve a good reference?

~~~
michaelochurch
That's never been my situation.

~~~
tptacek
Well, we'll never know now, will we? :)

