Live career talk and Q&A with Ethan: Our first event exclusive to paid newsletter subscribers will be on the topic "How Being Unreasonable Drove Me to Amazon VP" on January 25 (Thurs).
Very True, there is the old saying (not scientific) that you become the average of the five people you spend time. Take that concept to the workplace and it becomes an interesting discussion. Unfortunately, it is the disengaged population that welcomes new employees with open arms. Their reputation is often unknown to the new hire. Thus, it is critical for new joiners thinking about their first impressions is also who they choose to associate with.
Working at small companies pretty much all my career, I couldn't have imagined people functioning other than being doers. When you don't have hundreds of engineers, production is on fire; you don't sit and wait until you get an answer from a senior engineer on whether you name a package surveyComponent or survey-component.
You look at the current naming, and if it's inconsistent, propose a naming resolution. Write a doc with your suggestions, and open it up for comments. The next engineer joining will already have an easier time, and your peers will be blown away.
Well said, the definition of "Bias for Action" (one of my favorite Amazon Leadership Principles). Andy Jassy use to say "Speed is not pre-ordained, speed is a choice."
Very True, there is the old saying (not scientific) that you become the average of the five people you spend time. Take that concept to the workplace and it becomes an interesting discussion. Unfortunately, it is the disengaged population that welcomes new employees with open arms. Their reputation is often unknown to the new hire. Thus, it is critical for new joiners thinking about their first impressions is also who they choose to associate with.
I never heard this, but I love the takeaway.
Working at small companies pretty much all my career, I couldn't have imagined people functioning other than being doers. When you don't have hundreds of engineers, production is on fire; you don't sit and wait until you get an answer from a senior engineer on whether you name a package surveyComponent or survey-component.
You look at the current naming, and if it's inconsistent, propose a naming resolution. Write a doc with your suggestions, and open it up for comments. The next engineer joining will already have an easier time, and your peers will be blown away.
Well said, the definition of "Bias for Action" (one of my favorite Amazon Leadership Principles). Andy Jassy use to say "Speed is not pre-ordained, speed is a choice."
Love this 🔥