What I Wish I Knew: Career Edition
Necessary friction, a legislation tracker, and building bridges (Issue #299)
A few weeks ago, we spotlighted the very Medium genre of “what I wish I knew” — stories from people across all walks of life (therapists, data scientists, DIY home renovators, UX designers, parents…) who were using Medium as an opportunity to share hard-earned lessons with the world (and with themselves).
While we were putting together that issue, we stumbled upon so many great examples of this format that we decided we must dedicate an entire week to the genre. Each day will be on a theme and today’s is career growth.
VP of Strategy at a leadership development consultancy, Matthew Confer, shares a few lessons from the span of his entire career, including one worth keeping in mind this week: The Success Equation. “Your success will be the summation of your efforts, your capacity to build relationships, and your ability to advocate for yourself,” he explains. When he was starting out, he knew about the “hard work” part and underestimated the “build relationships” part: those relationships evolve over time, giving you new opportunities and collabs.
Lawyer-turned-screenwriter Bharat Hari Dhakalia remembers when he tried freelance writing full-time, and how what was once his passion quickly became overwhelming: “I was struggling to meet steep deadlines, writing content I did not want to write, to pay bills and rent to live in a city that only made me feel lonely and morose.” What did he wish he knew? Making your passion your profession can backfire, and be careful what you wish for! (Probably not true for everyone to the same degree, but true for him.)
Lastly, from the archive, here’s a long list of 10 very specific things product manager Pavan Teja wishes he’d known about launching great products. #3 concerns hiring: “Please don’t take ‘If a person takes 10 hours to do a task, then 2 people should be able to do it in 5 hours’ approach. It would take 10 hours for them two to finish the task because there would be discussions and teaching involved.”
Those are just a few. If you’re just getting started on Medium, I recommend writing one of these yourself: What I Wish I Knew About [insert anything]. Respond to this email if you do! We’re going to feature more of these throughout the week.
Also today…
- A thoughtful essay from designer Michael F. Buckley on the cost of oversimplifying UX to the point where users don’t have many active choices: “Simplicity has its place. Removing unnecessary complexity is crucial for efficiency, usability, and accessibility. But the goal shouldn’t be to eliminate all cognitive effort — only unnecessary friction.”
- Today is International Trans Day of Visibility, an annual awareness day that began in 2009 (created by Rachel Candall Crocker, a psychotherapist and activist in Michigan). The Movement Advancement Project on Medium tracks legislation affecting LGBTQIA+ visibility and equality in the U.S.
- If you want to figure out whether a wellness product might be a scam, don’t take for granted that “studies” exist proving its efficacy — find out who funded the studies! And remember that patents do not equal proof. It’s not difficult to obtain a patent, and less than 3% of patents actually result in useful tech. (Bill Sullivan Jr)
👣 A dose of wisdom
When a big change happens and you feel uncomfortable about it, ask yourself: Are you defending a wall or building a bridge? (Bahram H Yousefi, Dr.)
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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis
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