Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

We dive into the exciting world of accounting in this episode.  Timely billing is the focus, and a worst-case scenario teaches the lesson.  While the mistake is not directly mine in this story, I was a first-hand witness and deeply involved.  That experience cemented my habit of providing regular status and gave me limits for billing flexibility.  These steps have helped me avoid much loss and frustration over the years. Timely Billing - And Payment Terms Billing is not the only thing we need to do.  There also needs to be follow-up and expectations set for when they should be paid.  When those limits are exceeded, then we must have a plan for proceeding in a risk-appropriate manner.  It is helpful to have in the back of our mind that someone might try to skip out on their bill entirely.  That can be devastating for large write-offs. Therefore, we must stay aware of what we have at risk as we move forward with a project or customer. The Lesson Learned Not all customers are equal, nor are they all ethical.  That can lead to situations where our time is wasted partially or entirely.  When money is paid out to resources, as in this story, we can be out cash and time.  That can devastate a business and even impact how much trust others have in us.  Therefore, we must be as mindful of the commitments others have made to us as we are those we make to others. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

Few things cause excitement like the phrase, "status reporting."  Yes, I know you are already quivering from anticipation, but that is our topic.  This episode looks at how much confusion could have been avoided (and some loss) through better use of this communication form.  Accordingly, this is an excellent lesson to learn early in your career. Status Reporting - Staying on the Same Page The best reason for regular communication in a project is to ensure everyone stays on the same page.  A lack of cohesion in a team is a common reason for failures, over-runs, and low quality.  While status reporting may feel or seem like busy work, it is not.  There is a noticeable value in even the most basic update that provides high-level bullet points.  The typical approach of "What we did," "What we plan," and "Blockers and challenges" can be covered in minutes.  However, the information can save hours, days, or weeks.  The story in this episode is just one such example. The Lesson Learned Project status and plans are the primary measures of progress and milestones.  These combine to give a picture of how things are going and the focus during a given period.  While that may seem vague or unhelpful, it is not.  Status reporting provides a method for refining and clarifying project work before it is too late.  Thus, a failure to keep in touch through the tools is a recipe for disaster. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

Our approach to becoming a better developer requires planning.  Likewise, we need smart scheduling to hit our targets.  That is the focus of this episode.  I look back at a time when I overloaded my schedule and ended up stressing out.  That led to more harm than good in many ways.  Thus, we need to look at building in ways to allow our schedule to be flexible and adjust to life events. Smart Scheduling 101 - Add "Wiggle Room" A rigid structure is more likely to break when it is shown resistance.  Think of a dry spaghetti noodle.  Once you apply pressure, it is likely to break or crack.  However, there are similar things (like a wet noodle) that are flexible and more difficult to break.  Those are examples of how a rigid schedule is more likely to break while less rigidity makes it more likely to last.  While it is nice to be able to fill every block of our calendar, it is also not practical.  Reality forces us to accept that unforeseen events and circumstances arise that must be addressed.  Those either break our schedule or our schedule must allow for them.  Smart scheduling means including space to soak up those unplanned events. The Lesson Learned Missing a planned target can be minor or major.  However, adding stress to almost any activity makes it more draining.  Thus, we are less productive overall when we add stress to our schedule.  That leads to lower quality or other increased costs that are better to avoid. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life." Edited with BlogPad Pro

There are many mistakes we make related to pushing too far or not pushing enough.  The latter is where we make good the enemy of better.  More precisely, good enough becomes our goal instead of getting better.  That approach can be comfortable.  However, it can also limit our growth professionally and personally.  This episode shares a story where I limited myself regularly shooting for a goal that was good rather than better.  While we can take the "win" and move on, there are more times we should aim higher. Good The Enemy of Better - Limiting Growth The idea of perfect as the enemy of good and pushing too hard has been discussed in other episodes.  Those situations have us trying too much for perfection and missing out on the return on investment.  The effort is not always worth the cost and subsequent payoff.  For example, this situation is on one end of the spectrum.  We can aim too low and hit our target perfectly.  However, that has limited use.  At some point, we need to push to improve and grow.  Otherwise, we will start to stagnate and fade.  It is not just a cute saying that when we stop to grow, we begin to die. The example of this episode provides one of the most common ways I have seen this appear in careers.  We have a hard time arguing strong enough for our skills and worth and end up shooting too low.  A good book on negotiation tactics would be an excellent start in fixing this oversight.  The "Donald Trump" over-the-top approach may annoy people, but it is a valuable way to get the best deal.  When you start by positioning yourself as the best for a job, it makes sense to look for better compensation than average. The Lesson Learned In this situation, I learned that I need to be intentional about how I grow my worth and business.  We will not get more unless we ask for more.  That includes that we need to push ourselves and avoid settling for how things have been.  While this episode focuses on compensation, it also is vital for assignments, titles, and responsibilities.  These are all the ways we grow professionally.  Thus, we need to look for ways to ask for more and push ourselves to gain that desired objective. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life." Edited with BlogPad Pro

It is not at all uncommon to focus on proving your worth when you start a new job or enter a new environment.  However, we expect more than others.  We often make the mistake of thinking we are expected to know everything.  That is not the case.  In fact, we are rarely likely to know much in the early days of a new job.  That is why many companies have training and orientation programs for new hires.  While there is typically not the same formal process when we move to a new team, there are still the same needs.  It is a "rookie mistake" to think you are expected to hit the ground running at 100%.  Your best days are ahead of you, not those first days and weeks in a new position. Proving Your Worth - You Did It Already First and foremost, it is essential to note that you have already proved yourself on some level.  You landed that new position.  That means someone decided you are worthy of this opportunity.  While it is not uncommon to worry about being fired in the first week, that rarely happens.  As long as you did not lie heavily through the hiring process, you will still have a job at the end of the week. The Lesson Learned We see this mistake often with people new to a job.  However, it is rare to see someone tossed out due to a lack of skills or knowledge (at least not until a lot of time has passed).  Think about how you view someone new to a job.  You do not expect them to have supernatural knowledge of the team and insider discussions.  Thus, why would you worry that others would expect that of you?  Do not hesitate to ask questions sooner rather than later.  That is an excellent way of proving your worth through learning quickly rather than knowing things from the start.  Learning is a better skill than raw knowledge in almost every case. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

There are many fights and arguments that start from differences in perception.  Whether it is the line-of-sight, angle, or bias, we have differing views.  These can cause reasonable people to take starkly different positions on a subject.  While those are honest differences, they are also essential to note.  Sometimes an argument can be avoided by one of the parties looking at the issue from a different perspective.  We must realize these differences exist and work with them rather than digging in our heels. Differences in Perception and Perspectives Perspective has a more significant impact on our decisions and positions than most expect.  We think we see things how they are and can be adamant about it.  However, we all have obstructions and blind spots that can lead us astray.  We also have assumptions and biases that we do not always recognize.  Those can get us into foolish situations where we trust our perspective too much.  Those differing perspectives can lead to substantial differences in perception.  The wise approach is to assess other views and embrace our limits.  That approach allows us to see things more clearly. The Lesson Learned The story shared in this episode is a master class in how our perspective can color our response to a situation.  Vision and the physical world are just the tip of the iceberg for this lesson.  We can see all manner of situations, from brainwashing to assumptions to bigotry, that lead us in the wrong direction.  We sometimes even preach to others about their blind spots while overlooking ours.  Unfortunately, there is no 360-degree view available for a single person.   Therefore, we must rely on others to help craft a complete and realistic view of any situation. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

Modern technology is the focus of this episode as we look at mistakes in the cloud.  You can impact a lot of people with a simple error.  That is why you need to be aware of what these new tools do and how to use them properly.  For example, backups are great unless you manage to delete them all.  Likewise, file sharing is excellent.  However, it can lead to one person disrupting the work of your entire team.  These cloud-related tools take the reply-all option in emails from a minor nuisance to a potentially crippling obstacle. Mistakes In The Cloud Are Common First and foremost, know that the easy accessibility of these tools can be a problem.  They tend to work in the background and without many, if any, notifications.  Even worse, users often silence any notifications from these tools because they can be annoying.  There is training, and many tools have safeguards.  However, losses can be time-consuming and unwanted modifications can be hard to roll back.  We all have clicked "send" or some other action a second too soon and regretted it.  Cloud-based tools and services offer an opportunity for more of those families of mistakes. The Lesson Learned Avoid mass actions without first testing the action on a smaller scale.  It may cost more time to try the action first but avoiding a big mistake is worth the investment.  The time saved to roll back an error across many files or records can be substantial.  Start with one or two files the next time you plan on moving or deleting an entire folder.  Verify the results and then move on to that mass action.  It is the modern equivalent of measuring twice and cutting once. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

Sometimes a story is full of lessons without having a well-defined core.  There are many players, and the successful have a positive attitude.  This trend supersedes mistakes, errors, and even bad luck.  We look at one of those complex situations in this episode.  There are many mistakes made, and they all are overcome by being focused on success rather than listing ways we can fail. A Positive Attitude In The Face Of Adversity This story does not start with a situation and players that lead one to expect success.  On the contrary, this seems like a recipe for disaster.  Likewise, abject failure would not be a surprise and was likely expected by many.  The difference-maker in this story is that positive attitude.  A few people decided it was worth giving a full and honest effort to the cause.  Those decisions made the difference between success and failure. The Lesson Learned I have to admit that I did not have high hopes for this situation.  I was often considering ways to limit damage and craft contingency plans.  Nevertheless, I pushed aside those doubts and got the team to decide to give it a chance.  That was all it took.  We were pleasantly surprised at how our challenge turned into a shining success.  Likewise, we found a sort of gem in the rough that sparkled brightly once it was polished up.  Therefore, sometimes a challenging path is the key to glowing success.  Do not be afraid to step into such challenges with confidence and optimism. If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

There are multiple lessons to learn from this little debacle of a story. However, trust but verify seems to be the best summation. We have to assume a lot in business. There are levels of acceptance and expectance both from vendors and customers. While those base metrics can be helpful, they are not always guaranteed. Logically Skeptical - Trust But Verify The challenge with some of the rules mentioned above of thumb is that they can be used against us. The effect is not much different from other forms of "surprise" negotiation tactics. These are the attempts to get us on our heels just when we think we made it across the finish line. We have pointed to protective measures against such tactics by setting hard limits in your mind before you step into those situations. However, you can let down your guard once you think you have won or finished the negotiation. Just be sure you do not let your desire to be done override those limits you may have set earlier. The Lesson Learned This example was one where the mistake was almost more on their end than mine. I had a set limit and had come to an agreement. That made it easy for me to "stick to my guns" and not allow the numbers to change. However, it did end up being a situation where no one "won" because I had to go back to the start of finding a vendor I could use. I was fortunate that it worked out without any significant setbacks. If I had held a backup plan in my back pocket, it would have been safer. Fortunately, I did not suffer consequences from this particular oversight.  If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."

Clarity and communication are common themes in our improvement episodes. Those are most important when you need to know who you work for. Which master do you serve? The mistake highlighted this time is among many in a situation gone wrong. It also shows how some oversights or missteps can open the door to significant consequences. It does not hurt to be cautious in the modern business world. Things can change quickly. Important Clarification - Know Who You Work For There are competing goals and objectives even within companies. When you add on top of that all of the politics and maneuvering that exists in many environments, things can get complicated. Even more important, your boss is not always the one that signs your check. You may have customers or other influencers in the supply chain that you need to serve. You can not make everyone happy all the time. Therefore, make sure there is clarity about who you work for so you can keep them happy at least. The Lesson Learned The best professionals find ways to avoid conflicts as much as possible. They wait patiently and avoid stepping into minefields. Unfortunately, that is not always possible, nor are the minefields evident in all situations. This lesson is one like others we have seen. Make sure you understand where you stand and what your limits are. That includes how much you are allowed to impact a situation. Sometimes the best way to make progress is to accept a meandering path. Also, sometimes you must realize you are a follower, not a leader.   If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."