Personal development for technical people - Part 1: getting started

There are two comments that I always come across in the technical world:

1. To progress in your career you have to do less technical work and manage people
2. People development is a dark art, and there are people who are 'just good' at it.

The first is self-fulfilling: I know a lot of good technical people who have left technical careers to 'manage people' only to miss the technical challenge and go back to technical roles later in their careers.

The second is not true, but is widespread. In fact, if it were less widespread, we might see less of comment number 1...

Development should be technical: defining hypotheses, testing assumptions and developing new theories.

In short we can apply the scientific method to personal development as well as our technical projects.

What follows is a series of tools and strategies I have found helpful in looking after the development of others, but can also be applied to yourself to become happier, more interested and fulfilled in your role. You could even try them with other people...

Part 1: How to start (or "What are our project objectives?")

In a technical project we usually know what we are trying to achieve, but in personal development this can be opaque. With technical projects the problem (or potential advantage) is already defined before starting, but it is based on knowing where we currently are, and what might be improved.

We can do this for personal development too. We should define where we are currently, what has gone well and what is a problem.

A great tool for this is the 'Impact Map' that was published in 'Designing Your Work Life' by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (UK version: 2020). In short, you write down 6-10 roles you have had in the past, or have currently (or might want) and you put a blob on some axis representing where the role fits. This helps you to understand the kinds of areas of impact that you have an affinity for, have found challenging or have never had experience in.

The axis represent different aspect so the impact of your role:

• Vertical (Y) axis: Impact in scale and depth.

i.e. how many people are impacted (higher on axis = more people), but also depth of impact (lower down axis = deeper impact). If you write policy for the UN then you are high on the axis, if you are a personal trainer you are towards the bottom of the axis.

• Horizonal (x) axis: Impact type in newness and efficiency

i.e. how new is the impact you are creating, or is it focussed on creating real efficiency on the impact that is well established. If you are in drug synthesis research you are towards the right of the axis, if you are in chemical manufacture you are towards the left.

(I know there are no scales on the axis, that bothers me as well, but run with it. Or add your own scale if you prefer...)

A note: think of a 'role' not a job. Jobs can have many roles (e.g. project manager, technical lead, chemist, architect etc.).

If you are struggling to place a role on the axis, it probably means there are more than one roles inside that. Try splitting it up and trying again.

Knowing yourself in this space allows for a few things:

1. Understand the types of roles you have affinity for, and the space that you prefer,
2. Identify places you haven't had roles yet, so you can find opportunities to try out to expand your space and test the boundaries (safely),
3. Cut yourself some slack if you have struggled with a role in the past and it is really far from your space.

A note: think of a 'role' not a job. Jobs can have many roles (e.g. project manager, technical lead, chemist, architect etc.).

I keep this impact map in my head most of the time, and automatically add new opportunities to it when I hear about them, It helps me to know if I'm driven by something or I might need some extra support.

Next time: How to look at development from a few different angles (i.e. get away from "just find some training courses...")

Do you have tangible tools you have used for development with other (particularly technical people) - especially getting started? Please tag me or comment!