Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my current or any previous employer. This blog may also contain links to other websites or resources. I am not responsible for the content on those external sites or any changes that may occur after the publication of my posts.
End Disclaimer
Two things recently.
I’ve been reading about the business of sports and I’ve had a bunch of my really smart friends have to look for new jobs.
“Work” means being a professional mental athlete.
I work as a professional mental athlete.
Maybe you do too.
Each year is a season.
Just like a sports athlete, you have to prove yourself to others during the season.
Proving yourself is for them.
Testing yourself is for you.
Management, ownership, your teammates.
I need to prove myself over the entirety of a season.
That’s for them.
At the end of the season, if I’ve performed well- if I’ve proven myself, I should get an informal offer to re-sign in the form of more money, responsibilities, a better title, or an actual new contract.
If I don’t, I have an option to explore playing for other teams.
Part of a regret minimization framework.
My playing career will be over before I know it.
I return calls from scouts, talk to other teams, and see if their teams offer a more expansive challenge with a better reward structure.
I have looked for 4 broad things in my playing career in no particular order, except of course, that the order is very particular.
Nice and skilled teammates, management, and owner
Getting to work on hard, difficult, and dynamic problems
Having a clear growth path
Making as much money as possible
The sine qua non of these 4 is the gift of working with nice people. I think gift is the right word.
I’ve always had one litmus test throughout my career regarding the places I work at- would I be proud to take my kids into the office?
This sense of pride in showing my kids doesn’t come from the view from the office, the fancy espresso machine or snacks, or how big Popsi’s office is.
This pride emanates directly from me getting to introduce my kids to the people who I work with that I’m proud of, that I’m excited to share with my kids.
That’s an unapologetically high bar for me.
Good, nice people.
Everything else becomes harder and less fun without this.
A cadre of brilliant assholes (band name? I’m an xxl shirt) always explodes. It’s just a matter of the timeline
Of course, there have been times in my career when I’ve been without a job and looking, that these 4 things have coalesced into one all important and overarching goal- make “any” money possible- and I’ve had to forget about the other 3 things temporarily.
That’s not ideal, but that’s life.
Now, there is a flip side to your agency to explore other opportunities.
Your company has that same agency and can exercise it whenever they want.
If every single year, my performance for my team isn’t markedly better than the last year, I’ve failed.
That’s how I think about it for myself.
I can be cut.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to get cut or be without a job.
Teams cut players for all sort of reasons. The reasons are, many times, obfuscated.
There’s a part in Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile where he talks about the idea that a handful of people from your company can get into a room and decide whether or not you still have a job- whether or not the money spigot stays on or turns off completely. I think about this fairly often. I’ve had it happen to me- the vertiginous drop in the pit of my stomach when I was called into a room and saw the HR person sitting there next to a boss.
“Hi Otakar, please sit down. (Points to cloaked figure with giant scythe next to them)You remember Gary, The Grim Reaper from HR…”
I got cut for “restructuring of the trading floor”, the Volcker Rule, and “no more quant trading” at the hedge fund.
It’s weird, I reflexively feel like I need a couple more sentences to justify those- why each of those should come with an asterisk. But in the end, nobody cares and the result remains the same.
I guess I failed to prove myself.
Or maybe it was something else entirely- someone in a room decided to turn off my spigot.
Sometimes being cut has nothing to do with your ability, your intelligence, or your drive. It’s the occupational equivalent of stepping off the sidewalk and getting hit by a bus.
To my friends and everyone looking for a job.
Something better is coming.
Something better is coming.
For me- my team may decide to cut me for whatever reason and release me into the market for other teams to pick me up off waivers, or I may need to try out again.
I’ve been cut from teams before.
I hope I’m not cut again, but (sh)it happens.
That will suck. Again.
But, I’ll still keep testing myself.
That’s for me.
Don’t Slow Down.
Sage advice from a man wise beyond his years.