[wordup] Lessons Learned from Previous Employment

[Adam Shand]

I'd forgot about this, I wrote it in a taxi on the way from Auckland  
airport to some place I no longer remember.

Source: http://adam.shand.net/iki/2009/lessons_learned_from_previous_employment/

Canfield Concessions (1988-1989)

* Loyalty is only ever earned.
* Treating people like children, makes them act like children.
* Punishing people for making mistakes, makes them hide their mistakes.
* When you aren't allowed to sit, your feet hurt at the end of the day.

Dunedin Montessori (1991-1993)

* It's easy to be lazy.
* The flexibility to manage your own time is invaluable.
* Having a job you can do stoned isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Earthlight Communications (1993-1997)

* Superb customer service can win you a lot of customer loyalty, but  
few will pay extra for it.
* Growing a small business into a large business requires taking  
enormous risks.
* Small, tight knit teams are vastly more effective then large ones.
* Good judgement under pressure is a learned skill.
* It's harder to teach people skills then it is to teach technical  
skills.

Internet Alaska (1997-2000)

* Working so hard that you don't sleep, doesn't make anything better.
* If the owners of the company don't get along ... run far away.
* When a company succeeds, there comes a time when the founders must  
delegate many of their previous responsibilities. Letting this moment  
slide by unnoticed, can be fatal.
* If you can't bill correctly, it doesn't matter how good your  
reputation or technology is.
* A great manager can make all the difference.
* Surviving the loss of a key person, is never as hard as you think it  
will be.
* A good manager puts their teams needs before their own and shelters  
their team from the pressures above.
* Sometimes managing your friends really sucks.

Metstream (2000-2001)

* Experienced businessmen can be worth their weight in gold.
* There is an art to being pushy.
* Big dreams take big balls.
* After you've deployed your infrastructure is the wrong time to do  
your return on investment calculations.

Pixelworks (2001-2003)

* The one thing that managers hate, more then anything else, is being  
surprised.
* Working in a cost centre means that you, and your job, are at best a  
second priority.
* In a support role your job isn't to do your job well, it's to  
maximise other peoples ability to do their job well.
* Engineers don't like being wrong.
* If people don't understand what you do, and why it's important, you  
will not be rewarded.
* Being conscientious and staying focused is far more important then  
being smart.
* It's possible to get accustomed to anything.  Make bloody sure you  
are aware of what you've become accustomed to.

Personal Telco (2000-2003)

* More then any other single thing, being successful at something  
means not giving up.
* Everything takes longer then you expect. Lots longer.
* In a volunteer based non-profit people don't have the shared goal of  
making money.  Instead every single person has their own personal  
agenda to pursue.
* Unfortunately "dreaming big" is more fun and less work then "doing  
big".
* Process matters, how you get there will effect not only the end  
result, but how people feel about the end result.
* During conflict, email is guaranteed to evoke the worst possible  
response from someone.
* Nothing is as refreshing to the soul as receiving an unanticipated  
act of generosity.
* One of the primary jobs of a leader is to act as a "lightning rod"  
for discussion. As such it is often more important to have an opinion,  
then to have the correct opinion.
* When dealing with difficult situations it's vital to stay focused on  
the goal and not get pulled into emotional responses. My mantra was:  
"read, react, respond, reduce".

Weta Digital (2003-2009)

* If you avoid confrontation you can never fix things.
* If you don't ask for it, chances are nobody knows you need it.
* Most people are incredibly generous when asked directly for help.
* If you protect people too much, they will not learn the consequences  
of their actions.
* Every company is held together by the supreme efforts of certain key  
people.
* Effective communication is the largest challenge that every business  
faces.
* Curiosity and worth looking for, especially in technical interviews.

Network Appliance (2006-2007)

* The first time people see you in a suit, expect giggles.
* Meeting work mates face to face is an absolute requirement.
* The primary job of salesmen is to navigate their own companies  
bureaucracy on behalf of their customers.
* Travelling for work can in fact get old.
* Never try to out drink a salesmen.