Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

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."

In a season about growing from errors and mistakes, it seems that an episode about admitting defeat is required.  We cannot stay stationary and make progress.  This concept holds for individual situations and group decisions like the one we examine.  That is why some things in life clearly defined as a win or loss (a sports match, for example) are a blessing.  We have no real choice other than to move forward.  Yes, we can languish in the loss and try to reverse it.  However, it is an exercise in futility that forces us sooner or later to accept reality. Admitting Defeat Is Necessary One of the key ingredients to learning from a mistake is recognizing it as such.  That is something I have bumped into many times.  Someone "gets lucky," and a mistake still results in a successful result.  They then decide the error was a good thing, and they continue to make it.  Eventually, things add up, and now you might have a habit to reverse rather than a simple mistake.  When we have a clearly defined loss, we are forced to examine it and look for ways to win the next time.  For example, watch athletes and coaches that constantly blame the officials for their losses.  They never seem to improve.  They are effectively reinforcing bad habits. The Lesson Learned No one likes a sore loser.  Like it or not, that is how you will be viewed when you refuse to move forward from a loss.  All of the complaining and excuses and even finger-pointing end up looking like whining.  Own your mistakes and losses, and then look for ways to turn them around.  You gain more than the respect of those around you.  You take a step closer to victory the next time. 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."

This episode of learning from mistakes focuses on clearly defined objectives.  The error highlights what can go wrong when we fail to have them.  We also see these same potential issues pop up when we have weakly defined requirements.  Finally, there is a need to communicate all of this as well.  When we don't know what we don't know, many things other than hilarity ensue. Clearly Defined Objectives Are Needed Through Our Daily Life There are many ways to fall for this lack of clarity.  One of the most common ones is to fall back on labels and similar mechanisms.  There are many opportunities in life to communicate an idea through a generalization and send the wrong message.  Some of the best examples point to grammar mistakes.  However, labels and painting with a broad brush achieve the same result.  Just think of a simple title like a manager.  It can be used in many situations but is vastly different in reality.  For example, do you think a manager at a fast-food restaurant is professionally anywhere near in skillset a manager for a professional sports team?  Is an office manager the same as a people manager?  They are not.  However, we can use that simple word in all of the above situations.   The Lesson Learned The situation described in this issue was a big loss in a way.  The initial decision was swept away because of the way it was executed.  However, it did work out once the approach was switched to one that was clear and direct.  While the mistake was not erased, a path forward was created that allowed everyone to put it behind them.  Keep that in mind when you are struggling with clearly defined objectives.  The solution can be a clarification away.  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 a few times I have been taught the value of testing your backups.  That is why even disaster recovery needs to be validated.  The first story I share is probably a worst-case scenario.  However, it can happen, so we need to be aware of failure points.  We must validate our backups regularly to ensure the process we are counting on is there when we need it. Testing Your Backups Before They Are Needed There are many ways to test backups and our disaster recovery plan.  We can do the extreme version, cut power to the required systems, and attempt to replace them via the procedure.  However, that may not be needed.  We may be able to do partial testing and ensure we can restore or copy the required files.  Even simple things like an automated update process can cause issues with our plan.  Therefore, we need to test regularly and ensure we keep the component parts updated and ready for use. Outliers and False Comfort It is easy to fall into a false sense of comfort about your strategy.  That is where the second story comes in.  Do not assume that your process working last month means it is still working this month.  Likewise, ensure outliers such as systems, applications, or files that are rarely (if ever) used are included in the backups.  I know of several situations where all was well until it was determined that some long-ago created file was lost or corrupted.  Then they found out that the file or system was not covered in the DR plan.  Even a simple act of rebooting a system has caused loss, and when that system was not backed up properly, it was a painful loss. 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."