Learning to Infinity: Farhan Thawar

Farhan Thawar, VP Engineering at Shopify, believes learning is an infinite game. His narrative illustrates this philosophy in diverse, compelling ways as he shares early influences that helped him discover a love for math and computers, his academic and professional evolution, and his desire to surround himself with people who will help him learn. He tells stories about how this desire to learn created opportunities to build companies and communities. 

Farhan shares how he thinks about career moves in terms of learning compensation instead of monetary compensation. He comments on the power of “looking stupid” and a willingness to be wrong. He shares his perspectives on community building, personal decision frameworks, and how to maximize “kilojoules per minute” to maximize professional and personal utility.

How do you maximize learning and personal growth in your career? How do you choose between good career paths? What is your connection between personal growth and community building? How does your community contribute to your success as a builder? How can asking stupid questions make you a more valuable member of your team?

Guest Bio:
Farhan is an engineer by training, everything else by experience. The desire to always be learning has driven Farhan’s career from technology giants like Microsoft through to small startups, running a tech incubator, and ultimately to his current role at Shopify. Farhan is a prolific writer and speaker, and loves to share what he is learning with other people. 

Farhan is currently the VP of Engineering at Shopify, an advisor to 3 startups, and an angel investor for over 20 companies. He has been published in Wired and TechCrunch magazines, was honored in 2010 as one of Toronto’s 25 most powerful people, and has spoken at a number of conferences including TEDxToronto. Farhan lives with his family in Toronto.

Twitter: @fnthawar
Medium: @fnthawar

Building Blocks:

In this episode, Farhan framed Learning as an Infinite Game. He contrasted it with other pursuits that he labeled Finite, like getting that next job or a promotion. I think we can all agree that we're never done learning. But sometimes it can seem like we don't have time - to pick up that new book, to take that class, to have that conversation - and we lose the chance to learn as a result. What Farhan has done that's both elegant and efficient is to use learning, rather than something like advancement or money, as the organizing principle for his decisions. And I think that's something I could do better at, and I'm guessing many people want to do better at.

In the spirit of Farhan's message, write down two things: First, what is something that you would really like to learn? It can be a new language, a way of sleeping better, a even just some things you could do to keep your life more organized! And it can be a long- or a short-term thing.

Second, what are 3 things - 1 tomorrow, 1 by next week, and 1 by next month - that you can do to move yourself along on this learning journey? Get specific. What exactly will you do? Who can help you? What will your goals be? Maybe you have a bunch of ideas. Jot them down, and run them by somebody. And get some input. Be ambitious, but be practical and honest with yourself too. And remember that Farhan, like Robert Chatwani in episode one, talked about the importance of a framework for knowing who you are and your purpose, and building around that. So if you need some inspiration on that front, go back and check out that episode too.

Helpful Links: 
Farhan’s TED Talk: “Refining Mobile Application Technology”
Farhan on making decisions: “Do it. Most things are reversible anyway.”
Farhan on asking questions: “Why looking stupid is my superpower”
Farhan’s Wired Magazine article on pair programming
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
Range: Why Generalists Succeed in a Specialized World by David Epstein