Not-so-simple life hacks from a simple software engineer (#5)

If you are just joining this blog, here are some links to the past concepts:

1.     Prioritization (09/08/2020)

2.     Being hungry and purpose driven (09/15/2020)

3.     Doing the right thing (09/22/2020)

4.     Never hold a grudge (09/29/2020)

Concept # 5 – All about value. Thanks for all the comments and likes on my previous posts. Today, I want to talk about “value, value, and value.” What I mean by this is that there is a value in every type of work and not just the highly visible work. Don’t worry about the type of task or work and be ready to do anything that adds value in the moment. The task may be mundane and may be one that nobody else wants to do. Your peers, colleagues and managers will always appreciate someone that is willing and ready to take on anything. I have been asked to do so many varied roles and I cannot be more thankful for getting those opportunities. 

There is no task beneath you and there is no task that is demeaning. None. I have several examples where I personally picked up and delivered food to some of my colleagues that were working hard, and I was proud of it. During an extremely tough project, my value add was what I referred myself as “concierge service” and arranged whatever was asked of me - some asked for technical help and some requested tables and chairs. And I delivered or arranged them as that was the most value added thing I could do at that time even though it was not the most visible or appealing or easy. Another example was when I noticed a performance parameter that I knew would cause major problem in the future. I voluntarily picked up the problem and worked with one of our partners to ship some latest hardware and software to an international team and we all worked to improve that parameter by a third. Now, this was not a visible project nor a highly sought after one at that time but today this one parameter saves many companies several thousand processors which in turn is not only a game changer financially but also for our environment and the world. Not many people even knew or realized what a small team of us did and may never realize the importance of this small but meaningful effort, but I am simply proud and honored to add this value for the company, colleagues, and the world. This example is not just for bragging rights, but to show that adding and creating value will fulfill you and make you more successful, regardless of the visibility at that time. Don’t just think about what you like to do, learn to like what you do and have to do and adds value.

As always, I want to end with my usual message that being positive, celebrating (every) little win/success, learning from every small misstep and being thankful to your friends, colleagues, and family. Life should be about enjoying what you do each and every day.