tl;dr:The user shared three frameworks to understand growth phases of companies: Kent Beck's 3X (Explore, Expand, Extract), Wardley's PST (Pioneer, Settler, Town Planner), and Thiel's Zero to One. They found these useful for identifying their personal fit within a company's growth journey, thriving best in the scaling phase. Understanding one's optimal growth phase can guide career choices.
tl;dr:"Frame failures like a video game, and you'll not only iterate more and learn faster but also sweeten the taste of subsequent successes." Mike discusses how reframing failure as a learning opportunity and decoupling it from professional evaluations, businesses can foster an environment of boldness and innovation.
tl;dr:"Embracing failure, dissecting it, and learning from it not only builds stronger systems but also fosters an environment of psychological safety, creativity, and continuous improvement." Mike discusses his experiences at Etsy, where it was recognized that system failures are often the result of systemic issues rather than personal failures.
tl;dr:"I try to speak with a former colleague or acquaintance at least once per week... The benefit of this for me is the social aspect of catching up with an old friend and sharing some memories and some laughs. It is also a big benefit to me to hear what is happening in their industry or field. In this way I learn about emerging trends, hot topics, areas of concern, and opportunities." Mike discusses how this has helped his career.
tl;dr:“Most people want to work for their rewards. Promotions received after striving for it for years are the ones people are most proud of.” Mike illustrates how humans don’t want free rewards. He believes the three grand essentials of happiness - “something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for" is a valuable framework to manage your own or someone else’s career.
tl;dr:“It’s all about layering. The reason I can build a house is because I know what goes first, second, third, and fourth…” I think this is the same thing with great engineering organizations, it’s all about layering, knowing what goes first, second, third, and fourth.” Mike defines and describes these layers.