9 Observations and Lessons

Reflections on a Career

Life long learning implies that I’ve learnt something. And 47 years is a long stretch. Here is a summary of some of the observations and lessons I picked up along the way. These are personal; some things I would have done differently if I could have. Others are more observations.?

1. Get a Post Secondary Education

If you have the opportunity, and it is a desire of yours, get as much post-secondary education as you can. Ph.D. is not too high a goal. For others, see some of my other lessons.?

Why, you might ask. For most of you this is a no-brainer. You’ve already got a post-secondary education. You may think I’m recommending this to further your education. That’s partially true. But perhaps something overlooked is building your network. Education is a great place to augment your network. Most job/career opportunities will come from your network. A degree opens doors. You will still have to walk through on your merits. Finally I think if I had pursued my post-secondary education sooner, it would have done wonders for my sense of self-worth. I think a lot more doors would have been opened and I would have perhaps followed a different career path.

2. Follow Your Passion, If You Can

This is everywhere. Follow your passion. However, it really doesn’t always work out. You need three things to follow your passion:?

• know what your passion is
• have the skills, talents or interest to deliver the product/services you’re passionate about
• have a defined market for your passion

So often, we are not in front of the right audience for our talent or passion. We may need to change our context so we are in front the audience that wants what we are offering. If not, we may have to do something else, find another one of our passions or find a welcoming place to work.?As we gain experience, expertise and life-experience, new doors will open and we can move closer to that which drives us. That’s what happened to me. I taught Transcendental Meditation for as long as I could. When I could no longer make a living do it, I had to take up whatever I could. In my case, that started as manual labour, swinging a sledge hammer working on demolition. New opportunities presented themselves and I moved through several careers, each of them teaching me valuable lessons along the way.

3. Be a Student of The Industry You’re In

This is one of the best advices I received in my career. It came from my sales manager, Norm Dignard, while I worked in the car business.?I had already being doing this to some degree when I joined JMB Marketing and sold insulation door-to-door for 4 years. At that time I was introduced to sales techniques, books and audio tapes. I read voraciously. And practiced what I learned. This led to my career in the car business. And in the car business, there was more training. We had something called video discs (OMG that was so long ago!). But they were valuable sources of industry and car knowledge. So much so, that I followed a path to become a walk-around presenter. This was true even more so when I moved into the technology sector. Being a student of the industry is mandatory if you wanted to keep up. There is always more to learn. Including a learning path as part of your professional development is absolutely essential. Get involved in user groups, communities of practice, industry and trade publications, blogs and vlogs. Attend conferences and get certifications. All these keep you current and develop your expertise and know-how. I was the first certified developer in Canada for version 7 of FileMaker Pro, my main development tool. I have kept current with all certifications since.?

4. Memorize

As a teacher of Transcendental Meditation, we had a lot of information we literally needed to memorize. I was good at it. And I enjoyed practicing. Perhaps I became a little too ‘arrogant’ about my ability to talk extemporaneously based on my previous memorizations. This failed me in the car business. When I did my first walk-around competition, I didn’t memorize my script. I didn’t do well. The next year, I memorized it and practiced over and over again. By the time the competition came up, I won my regionals and came third nationally. That was rewarded with a trip to DisneyWorld in Orlando Florida. The next year, they had regionals only and I won that. Also based on memorization and practice. They cancelled the competition after that because they felt I would continue to win which wouldn’t be fair to other entrants. It was a valuable lesson in learning to practice and rehearse. It can make a world of difference. Since then, when presenting at conferences, I do my best to write out my talks and memorize the material.

5. Manage Your Flare-ups

Again, Norm Dignard shared with me that he had taken some time to learn how to manage his temper. I did see him flare up a few times during my career in the car business, but overall, he had managed it quite well. I know it’s difficult if we feel we are right or feel that something is unfair to speak up or speak out. I have learned that I have to wait until I feel absolutely calm before I do. Otherwise, I can get irrational and not even remember what I had said. Meditation has been a big boon to me. It has helped me manage my temper and remain calm. Often co-workers and management would comment upon how calm I seem to be. And while that is true for the most part, my anger is still a point of vulnerability and I have to be careful. I remember reading a motivational book and it mentioned that eating fried eggs could lead to feeling angry or flare-ups. A connection between diet and behaviour would be something that I would investigate more deeply for the rest of my life. For example, too much coffee could make me irritable. Something to watch out for. Or too much spicy food. I’ve learned to avoid MSG and sulphites as they both could contribute to a ‘rage reaction’, actually a known side effect of consuming foods with them. (https://allergylink.co.uk/allergy-blog/2016/10/26/msg-adverse-reactions/). My flare-ups have impeded success in my career. I continue work on this even today. If this is an issue for you, definitely check out links between diet and anger. Also, ensure that you are managing your stress, getting enough sleep, exercising and have hobbies and interests that bring joy to your life.?

6. Be Circumspect

This was a hard one for me. The advice came to me from my manager at HSBC. It was a result of my endless blurting out, sometimes without forethought. With practice, I managed to get this more under control. It is something I am also continually working on. The reason circumspection is so important is that it shows that you are thoughtful and considering the impact of what you’re going to say. It also means that you are listening.?When we blurt out or interrupt others, we often don’t consider the impact of our words outside of the immediate release of some tension to say something. But circumspection takes into account not just the immediate effect but the impact on the audience, and the longterm effect of ‘what will this sound like to others’. It is an important to consider other impacts and knock-on effects. Quite often in my MBA studies, I would reply to a group question shooting from the hip. No problem. I had responded to a discussion item. But then I’d discover that a term someone had used or was in the question was a technical term that demanded a more precise and nuanced answer. I would then read up on the item, sometimes many, many articles before responding again. My second and even third responses were more on point, comprehensive and inclusive. As a result of this approach, I graduated my MBA with distinction. Being circumspect was a very valuable lesson.?

7. Love Your Clients

There were times when a client no longer wanted my services. That was fine. Nothing lasts forever. But in one particular case, it happened that if I withdrew my services at that time, a critical deliverable would not be met. I would, on my own time, ensure the deliverable was there for them and as it turned out, at the last minute, they asked for my help. I was ready and they were extremely satisfied and grateful. Another time, I had delivered a solution and found out when nearing completion that the owner of the company - who had delegated the approvals to a committee we were meeting with regularly - did not like the final product. It required a re-write. Which I did. It was a difficult thing to do but I remember the stories of Rolls-Royce testing their automobile engines and if something was amiss, they did a complete rebuild. I was inspired by that and felt that was the cost of doing business and my reputation! Caring for the customer is a passion of mine, something I could deliver upon no matter what industry I was in. It has led to many testimonials and referrals. On the other hand, there are clients who are high maintenance with no joy coming back. I made sure to exit these clients as soon as it was feasible. Life is too short to not love your clients. Often, there is another person or organization who is a better fit for them. Don’t worry, the client will find them. It is your responsibility to focus on the clients that want to work with you, pay you well and bring joy into your work day.?

8. Give It Away

Sometimes, I’ve found, that giving the client something they didn’t ask for or providing some service at no charge is a key marketing advantage. As a software developer, I often did pro bono work for non-profit organizations. Especially if my paid workload was light. This helped them, kept me in practice and often led to a turn of fortune where something good would happen - like a new job offer, or a new client. Don't give it all away, but giving it away occasionally can reap surprisingly positive benefits. Even if the result is just a blog article you write about it. Or if it is your commitment to helping your community, your country or the world.

9. Luck and Randomness

Many successful people count luck as one of the elements of their success. Indeed, I have to say, that as I reviewed my career, there were many instances of good luck and of my being solicited for new career opportunities. Even my start in Transcendental Meditation wasn’t my own. My dear high school friend Tim Wieczorek mentioned it to me and said we should start. (I did, he didn’t.)?But throughout my career, luck has played a role. My friendship with Don Finless led to a career in door-to-door marketing where I learned the basics of selling and closing when he asked me to work with him. I also have to thank Peter Kerrigan who managed to get me into byDesign at a time when I was struggling to find work. When I had started my own business in 1995 I was solicited two years later to work on a Ministry of Education project by Media-X by Steve Moretti . That led to a lifelong friendship and an incredible boost to my career. It also came fortuitously when I was again struggling to find work. When I started my new company, DataWorksPro, in 2000, I was fortunate enough to get a list of clients from a retiring FileMaker developer which led to many government contracts with Elections Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Transport Canada and so much more. My relationship with Barney Lawn at CoreSolutions resulted in my going to the Apple Campus in Cupertino with FileMaker Inc. and meeting all the top developers in North America. Through those connections, it led to me being solicited to participate in helping create the first set of development standards for our community. Later, I would be headhunted for a stint with HSBC in Bermuda for 7 years. And finally, when returning home to Canada, Philippe Lazzaroni spotted me at a user meet up and asked if we could work together. That has been the last 6 years of a very complete career in software development. There are many other deeply personal instances of luck and I’ve learned that helping others is the best way to improve your luck.

Conclusion

No doubt there are many other lessons and observations but these are the ones that came to mind. Let me know if any of these resonate or if you have lessons of your own that you’d like to share in the comments.?