本文是转载$\color{red}{阮一峰老师}$翻译的一篇文章，用来对自己的职业提供参考和激励自己。如果你在互联网行业，你应该要知道阮老师的大名😊
Nicholas C. Zakas 是全世界最著名的 JavaScript 程序员之一。
两年前，他写了一篇长文，回顾自己的职业生涯，提到七个对他来说最重要的建议。
不要别人点什么，就做什么
我的第一份工作，只干了8个月，那家公司就倒闭了。我问经理，接下来我该怎么办，他说：
“小伙子，千万不要当一个被人点菜的厨师，别人点什么，你就烧什么。不要接受那样一份工作，别人下命令你该干什么，以及怎么干。你要去一个地方，那里的人肯定你对产品的想法，相信你的能力，放手让你去做。”
我从此明白，单单实现一个产品是不够的，你还必须参与决定怎么实现。好的工程师并不仅仅服从命令，而且还给出反馈，帮助产品的拥有者改进它。
推销自己
我进入雅虎公司以后，经理有一天跟我谈话，他觉得我还做得不够。
“你工作得很好，代码看上去不错，很少出Bug。但是，问题是别人都没看到这一点。为了让其他人相信你，你必须首先让别人知道你做了什么。你需要推销自己，引起别人的注意。”
我这才意识到，即使做出了很好的工作，别人都不知道，也没用。做一个角落里静静编码的工程师，并不可取。你的主管会支持你，但是他没法替你宣传。公司的其他人需要明白你的价值，最好的办法就是告诉别人你做了什么。一封简单的Email：“嗨，我完成了XXX，欢迎将你的想法告诉我”，就很管用。
学会带领团队
工作几年后，已经没人怀疑我的技术能力了，大家知道我能写出高质量的可靠代码。有一次，我问主管，怎么才能得到提升，他说：
“当你的技术能力过关以后，就要考验你与他人相处的能力了。”
于是，我看到了，自己缺乏的是领导能力，如何带领一个团队，有效地与其他人协同工作，取到更大的成果。
生活才是最重要的
有一段时间，我在雅虎公司很有挫折感，对公司的一些做法不认同，经常会对别人发火。我问一个同事，他怎么能对这种事情保持平静，他回答：
“你要想通，这一切并不重要。有人提交了烂代码，网站下线了，又怎么样？工作并不是你的整个生活。它们不是真正的问题，只是工作上的问题。真正重要的事情都发生在工作以外。我回到家，家里人正在等我，这才重要啊。”
从此，我就把工作和生活分开了，只把它当作"工作问题"看待。这样一来，我对工作就总能心平气和，与人交流也更顺利了。
自己找到道路
我被提升为主管以后，不知道该怎么做。我请教了上级，他回答：
“以前都是我们告诉你做什么，从现在开始，你必须自己回答这个问题了，我期待你来告诉我，什么事情需要做。”
很多工程师都没有完成这个转变，如果能够做到，可能就说明你成熟了，学会了取舍。你不可能把时间花在所有事情上面，必须找到一个重点。
把自己当成主人
我每天要开很多会，有些会议我根本无话可说。我对一个朋友说，我不知道自己为什么要参加这个会，也没有什么可以贡献，他说：
“不要再去开这样的会了。你参加一个会，那是因为你参与了某件事。如果不确定自己为什么要在场，就停下来问。如果这件事不需要你，就离开。不要从头到尾都静静地参加一个会，要把自己当成负责人，大家会相信你的。”
从那时起，我从没有一声不发地参加会议。我确保只参加那些需要我参加的会议。
找到水平更高的人
最后，让我从自己的经历出发，给我的读者一个建议。
“找到那些比你水平更高、更聪明的人，尽量和他们在一起，吃饭或者喝咖啡，向他们讨教，了解他们拥有的知识。你的职业，甚至你的生活，都会因此变得更好。”
原文
I recently had an interesting discussion with a colleague. We were recounting our job histories and how our, shall we say colorful personalities, could have negatively impacted us long term. The truth is, I was kind of an asshole coming out of college (some would argue I’m still kind of an asshole, but that’s beside the point). I was arrogant and bitingly sarcastic, a generally irreverent character. I thought I knew it all and was quite proud of myself for it.
I had a habit of telling more experienced engineers that they were doing things wrong, and despite being right most of the time, I didn’t have the personality to make it effective. During one particularly engaging conversation, one of the senior engineers stopped and said, in these exact words, “I’m going to f***en beat the shit out of you if you don’t shut up.” I laughed it off because I knew he wouldn’t dare, and only years later did I realize the relevance of that statement: it was actually what he wanted to do.
Since that time I’ve grown up a lot, learned to watch what I say, and treat people with respect regardless of defining characteristics. The sarcasm stays in check while in a professional environment; I let it out to play when I’m with good friends. This self-control, along with a lot of other invaluable lessons, came to me not of my own accord, but through the careful guidance of the mentors I’ve had along the way. If not for them, who knows if my interpersonal relationships would have short-circuited my career.
The truth is that I have been incredibly blessed in my career because of the people I’ve come into contact with. My managers along the way molded a really rough-around-the-edges character into someone I’m proud to be. More than that, because of their influence, I’m not just a good programmer – I’m a good teammate and a good person. So impactful were these people on my life that I frequently recount their advice to the colleagues that I now mentor.
I also find their advice to be universally applicable, so I’d like to share the things I was told that helped me along the way. Of course, some of these are paraphrased since my memory for exact phrases isn’t all that great, but I believe I’ve captured the important parts correctly.
Don’t be a short-order cook
My very first job lasted 8 months because the company shut down. As I was talking with my manager about what I would do next, he gave me this advice:
Nicholas, you’re worth more than your code. Whatever your next gig is, make sure that you’re not a short-order cook. Don’t accept a job where you’re told exactly what to build and how to build it. You need to work somewhere that appreciates your insights into the product as well as your ability to build it.
This is something I’ve kept in mind throughout my career. Simply being an implementer isn’t good enough – you need to be involved in the process that leads up to implementation. Good engineers don’t just follow orders, they give feedback to and work with product owners to make the product better. Fortunately, I’ve chosen my jobs wisely and never ended up in a situation where people didn’t respect or value my insights.
Self-promote
My second manager at Yahoo pulled me aside one day to give me some advice. He had been watching my work and felt like I was hiding a bit:
You do great work. I mean really great work. I like how your code looks and that it rarely breaks. The problem is that others don’t see it. In order for you to get credit for the work you’re doing, you have to let people know. You need to do a bit of self-promotion to get noticed.
It took me a little while to digest what he was saying, but I finally figured it out. If you do good work, but no one knows that you did good work, then it doesn’t really help you. Your manager can back you up but can’t make your case for you. People within the organization need to understand your value, and the best way to do that is to tell people what you did.
This is advice I give to many of my colleagues now. Self-promoting doesn’t mean, “look at me, I’m awesome.” It means letting people know when you’ve hit major milestones, or when you’ve learned something new. It means showing people the work that you’re proud of. It means celebrating your accomplishments and the accomplishments of others. It means being visible within the organization. The engineer who sits quietly in a corner and just codes away is always a bit mysterious – don’t be like that. A quick email to say, “hey, I finished the new email layout. Let me know what you think” goes a long way.
It’s about people
I was very title-driven earlier in my career. I always wanted to know what I had to do to be promoted. During my first one-on-one with my new manager on the Yahoo homepage, I asked what it would take for me to get promoted. His words still ring in my ears:
At a certain point, you stop being judged on your technical knowledge and start being judged on the way you interact with people.
I’m not sure I’ve ever received a better insight into the software engineering profession since that time. He was exactly right. At that point, no one was questioning my technical ability. I was known as a guy who wrote good, high-quality code that rarely had bugs. What I lacked was leadership skill.
Since that time, I’ve seen countless engineers get stuck at one level in their career. Smart people, good code, but the inability to work effectively with others keeps them where they are. Anytime someone feels stuck in their software engineering career, I recount this advice and it has always been right on the money.
None of this matters
I went through a period at Yahoo where I was frustrated. Maybe frustrated isn’t the right word, more like angry. I had angry outbursts and was arguing with people constantly. Things were going wrong and I didn’t like that. During one particularly rough day, I asked one of my mentors how he managed to stay calm when so many things were going wrong. His response:
It’s easy. You see, none of this matters. So some crappy code got checked in, so the site went down. So what? Work can’t be your whole life. These aren’t real problems, they’re work problems. What really matters is what happens outside of work. I go home and my wife is waiting for me. That’s pretty nice.
I had moved to California from Massachusetts and had a hard time making friends. Work was my life, it was what kept me sane, so when it wasn’t going that meant my life wasn’t going well. This conversation made me realize I had to have something else going on in my life, something I could go back to and forget about the troubles I had at work.
He was right, once I shifted my mindset and recategorized the annoying things at work as “work things,” I was able to think more clearly. I was able to calm down at work and have much more pleasant interactions with people.
Authority, your way
When I was first promoted to principal engineer at Yahoo, I sat down with my director to better understand what the role entailed. I knew I had to be more of a leader, but I was having trouble being authoritative. I asked for help. Here’s what he said:
I can’t tell you how to be authoritative, that’s something you need to figure out on your own. Different people have different styles. What you need to do is find a style that you can live with, that makes you comfortable. I can’t tell you what that is, but you do need to find it for this position.
I spent a lot of time that year observing people of authority and how they interacted with others. I took note as to how they walked, how they talked, how they dealt with problem situations. I tried different styles before I finally came across one that worked for me. My style is uniquely me and anyone learning to be in a position of authority has to go through the same growing pains. My advantage was that my mentor clued me about the process up front.
Moving from “how?” to “what?”
During a conversation with my manager at Yahoo, I asked what the expectations were with my new position. He answered:
To this point in your career, you’ve answered the question, “how?” As in, we tell you what needs to be done and you figure out how to do it. At this point, though, you need to answer the question, “what?” I’m expecting you to come and tell me what needs to be done.
This is the part where I see a lot of engineers get tripped up, and I would have as well if not for this piece of advice. Switching from “how?” to “what?” is very hard and takes time to develop. It also takes a bit of maturity to be left to your own desires as to what you focus on. After all, if you can spend your time on anything you want, you are also solely responsible for what you produce.
At Box, we call this “running open loop,” meaning that you do your job with minimal oversight and yet still are making a significant positive impact on the engineering organization and the company as a whole. This is the step where many engineers fail to make the leap, and I still give this advice to anyone who is trying to get to the next level.
Act like you’re in charge
I had just sat through a meeting where I had nothing to say. During my one-on-one with my director, I mentioned that I was just in a meeting where I had no idea why I was there and had nothing to contribute. He said:
Don’t ever do that again. If you’re in a meeting, it’s because you are there to participate. If you’re not sure why you’re there, stop and ask. If you’re not needed, leave. You’re in a leadership position, act like it. Don’t go quietly into a room. Just act like you’re in charge and people will believe it.
In that piece of advice, my mentor had reminded me of a lesson I learned while acting in high school: no one knows when you’re acting. If you’re nervous but act like you’re not, then people won’t know that you’re nervous. The same with leadership. The old phrase fake it til you make it comes to mind. From that point on, I never sat quietly in a meeting. I made sure I only went to meetings that needed me to participate and then I would participate.
Let them win
I went through a particular period where there were a lot of arguments on the team. I prided myself on ending those arguments with authority. I had a “my ruling is final” mentality, and my manager noticed that and gave me this piece of advice:
I see a lot of arguing going on, and I see you pushing through to win a lot. I know that most of the time you are right, but every once in a while let them win. Pick the things that really matter to you and push for those but let the other things go. There’s no need to win every argument.
This was one piece of advice I resisted initially. I was right nearly all of the time, why would I ever let someone else win? However, as I had grown to trust his instincts, I gave it a shot. The result: there were less arguments. People didn’t feel like they had to get one over on me, and in turn, I became better at identifying things I really didn’t care that much about. I stuck to my guns on important issues and let the others ones get resolved by the other party. The intensity of all conversations dropped considerably.
Conclusion
Looking back at the brash guy I was when I graduated college, my career could have ended up very different. I was seen as a malcontent, a smart but hard-to-deal-with guy who people dealt with because they had to. If it weren’t for the mentors I had along the way, as well as some humbling failures early in my career, my interpersonal skills (or lack thereof) could have very well done me in. These days, I regularly seek out those who are more experienced than me and ask for advice. I may no longer make big, glaring mistakes, but I also don’t want to wait for one to happen to seek out the experienced insights of someone I trust.
The nearly five years I was at Yahoo were some of the most transformative in my career. I got to work on interesting problems at a large scale, but moreso I was blessed with a series of wonderful managers and other mentors within my organization. I credit those conversations with turning me into a person that I’m proud of today, both at work and outside in “real life.”
If I can leave you with one overriding piece of career advice, it would be this: identify someone at your work that is smarter than you in some way (technically, organizationally, etc.) and attach yourself to them. See if you can regularly have lunch or coffee and pick their brain for the vast amount of knowledge it has. Your career, and maybe even your life, could end up drastically better by doing so.
