This is a rough blueprint of what I believe to be the optimal strategy for work and being competitive in the workplace, particularly when starting a new gig. What I mean when I say competitive is that I gain the following advantages:
I get to work on the projects I want to
I get respect from my coworkers in all departments
I can make mistakes, break rules, and have autonomy to maximize impact and influence
When I start a new job, which I have done many times over the last 8 years in my engineering career, and will do many more times, I want to get to where I have these advantages as quickly as possible. What I've learned is that there are three major factors for accomplishing this. It's less about the engineering part of the job which I am hired for, and more about a combination of:
Hard work
Understanding power dynamics
Soft skills and building relationships
Every time I've started a new job, I've been supremely under-qualified for the position. But without fail, after the first few months, I've always been trusted with new projects.
There are advantages to being the new guy at a company. Most people have already paid their dues and have resolved to doing average work. I am willing to put in more hours than them. I believe in hard work and that I should work hard for hard works sake. Hard work earns respect. Proverbs 10:4 states that "Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth." Have diligence.
While I put in the hours, I am not just putting in engineering hours at this point. Yeah I am knocking out the tasks I am given, with haste, but I am not focused on end-to-end understanding of the system. That will come with time and repetition. I am engineering maybe 20% of my hours to start off. What am I doing with the other 80%? I am observing power dynamics in the teams I'm operating in: who does what, which person do people listen to, which person do people not like, which person makes the decisions, etc. In Tolstoy’s War and Peace there is a moment where Boris realizes that the world operates by a mostly unwritten system.
Boris now clearly understood—what he had already guessed—that side by side with the system of discipline and subordination which were laid down in the Army Regulations, there existed a different and more real system—the system which compelled a tightly laced general with a purple face to wait respectfully for his turn while a mere captain like Prince Andrey chatted with a mere second lieutenant like Boris. Boris decided at once that he would be guided not by the official system but by this other unwritten system.
The world operates mostly by unwritten systems and rules. The same goes for the workplace. Rules are mostly set in place because at some point subordinates were not capable of the output expected by their leaders, and their leaders imposed checklists upon them. Rules can be broken, but they can only be broken if the desired output is still achieved. In order to break a rule, I need to understand who made the rule and what the reason is for the rule. Once I know that, I can safely break it as long as the outputs are still what's expected. Breaking a rule in this way actually earns me more respect than following it.
All throughout this process of putting in the hours and observing relationship dynamics, my soft skills are on display. I am pouring genuine love and care into everything I'm doing, while also showing real interest in those around me. I am showing excitement and my attitude is I'm going to find a way to get things done, no matter what it is. I am realizing that I'm there to serve and no task is beneath me. I'm showing a pace of execution with the work I'm given that is faster than everyone else.
As my soft skills enable those around me to know who I am, I can start to settle more into the engineering. I can start looking for the wizard engineers in the company. The 20% guys doing the 80% of the work. I check their PRs and see what their code looks like. I find ways to learn from them, and if possible, work on projects with them. This is the point of a career in my opinion. To learn from the best and take from them what makes you more complete.
I've been in quite a few jobs over the past 8 years. A few of them I still work with, advise, and am a shareholder. I'm not saying that I over-analyze the company I'm working in and spend the majority of my waking time trying to discern if my decisions are maximal. What I'm trying to do with my strategy is to find a way to spend my time at my job working independently on problems I believe are the most important for the company. I do this because the alternative is to be reactive to those around me.
At the end of the day, my faith matters more than any of this. I don't work diligently for any recognition from people, rather I work for God. Colossians 3:23-24:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
I have obedience and diligence at work. I want to be the best at my workplace, not for me, but for God. I look for problems I will enjoy and find ways to work on them, because if I love what I do I can pour love and joy to those around me. I look to set the example. I encourage my coworkers and lift them up. I honor those above me and serve those around me.
The header image for this post is an AI generated depiction of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3. In the story, King Nebuchadnezzar constructs a gold statue in Babylon and instructs everyone to worship it or they will be thrown into a blazing furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not worship the statue, and when confronted by the king, they said this:
“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
The three of them used their discernment and broke the rule of the king, while still honoring the king and calling him "Your Majesty". The king turned the fire in the blazing furnace up and had his servants throw them in. When they watched them in the fire, they realized there was a fourth man in there that looked like "a son of the gods". They were taken out of the fire with no harm to their bodies and no smell of fire on them. The king began praising the God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed would save them if they were thrown in the fire. There's discernment here, faith in something bigger than a rule or task being asked of you, and honoring your superior. All critical elements to bring to the workplace. I think about this story often.
