Why Some People Get Promoted (And Others Don’t)

I enjoyed reading the article “Why Some People Get Promoted (And Others Don’t)“.  Unlike many other in this domain, it is simple, direct, and to the point.  TLDR version:

  1. Do great things.
  2. Tell people.

There are quite a few links to external resources, with research and insightful quotes.  Here are a couple of my favorite bits:

‘[S]ent does not mean received’ is a profound thing. Half of your job in this studio is doing your work, the other half of your job is communicating that it’s been done. Because if you do it, and I don’t hear about it, how do I know what’s going on? I’m not trying to control everything, but in an intimate work environment, where we’re really trying to develop something complex, a nod, saying, ‘I got it,’ helps move things along.

And this part, which resonates with my inner blogger:

Asking for help is part of getting better at your job.

3. Work where people can see you.

Gaining visibility might require going outside your office. Maybe you have a side project, or maybe your work culture isn’t a healthy environment to pursue visibility.

Promoting yourself doesn’t have to be on someone else’s terms. Write a book, start a blog, make a side-project, collaborate with new people outside of work, or speak at panels and conferences. Tell people about what you’ve done, what you’re doing, why it’s important, and how you did it. Give talks, teach others, raise your hand for new projects.

How To Keep Your Best Programmers

I really liked this article – How To Keep Your Best Programmers.  It’s not your average three paragraphs and a link, I admit. It’s somewhat of a long read.  But it does a good job of explaining why people in general, and good developers in particular choose to leave or stay in the company.

It’s difficult to quote as it flows continuously, but if I had to choose, I’d use this as a teaser:

For some background, check out this video from RSA Animate. The video is great watching, but if you haven’t the time, the gist of it is that humans are not motivated economically toward self-actualization (as widely believed) but are instead driven by these three motivating factors: the desire to control one’s own work, the desire to get better at things, and the desire to work toward some goal beyond showing up for 40 hours per week and collecting a paycheck.

Frustration with organizational stupidity is usually the result of a lack of autonomy and the perception of no discernible purpose.

Not that I am a good programmer, but it helped me understand some of my own career jumps…

Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results 2016

Stack Overflow published the results of their developer survey for 2016.  Over 50,000 participants from more than 170 countries answered the questions this time around.  Some of the results are quite predictable, while others less so.

education

On full stack developers

I came across an excellent blog post on full stack developers – “The full stack developer is a myth“.  I do much agree on what is being said there.  Firstly, the stack itself.

Non-exhaustive list of a technical stack layers and components
Non-exhaustive list of a technical stack layers and components

Secondly, on the problem:

A full stack developer is a myth not because none exist, but because the term is meaningless. It’s no different from a coding ninja or rockstar, but at least everyone knows those terms don’t actually mean anything.

Even limiting the term to a more specific context like web stack or mobile stack, you’d still get quite a bit of technology for a single person.  And yes, it’s changing a lot and fast too!

Every year there are new components added to each layer and every couple of years there’s a new layer added to it. Is it really reasonable to put out job applications asking for a full stack developer? It’s not only unreasonable, it’s stupid. Particularly when you start looking for one person who’s an expert in security, web development, UX, and servers; and this isn’t at all an uncommon expectation.

More so, there is a geographical component to this as well.  If you are in a small country like Cyprus, with very few technical establishments, even further down simplifying the stack won’t help you much.  Finding a web developer with good knowledge of HTTP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL is already a challenge.   And that’s like three or four layers…

On compensation

Once someone actually gets into Google, Bock said his department also looks at compensation differently. Most HR managers try to keep salaries within a limited range for any given position. But that creates a discrepancy between the productivity of the best workers and their salaries. The best employees are anywhere from 50-200% more productive than the average employee. “It makes no sense to pay them just this much more,” Bock said, holding his fingers an inch apart. “LeBron James is way better than just about anybody playing sports, and he makes a lot more money. And no one looks at that and says it’s unfair.”

Forbes, “Google HR Boss: We Don’t Care Where You Went To College