Probably the realest thing I ever wrote

This week I’ve been recording the audiobook for Scaling Fast. Working with a professional producer is great! Lots of little tips and tricks to make sure we get the perfect audio experience for you.

This means I’ve been re-reading my book. It’s funny how much of the advice is easy to know but hard to do in the moment. You’re feeling the stress, your bruised ego, and hearing all the loud voices around you.

You don’t want to be the adult in the room. But you gotta :)

Here’s a passage that made me chuckle and go ”Heh ... yep”

Code yourself out of the job

Your ego loves being the critical member of a team.

Everyone looks up to you, seeks your advice, runs important decisions by you, and makes sure their code is up to your standard. You’re the genius who started this product and knows where all the bodies are buried. Feels great!

Then one by one your team starts leaving.

Joe gets pulled into a critical company-saving project. Huge career opportunity. Alice single-handedly talks the CMO off a ledge and repairs an important stakeholder relationship after a bug killed their metrics. Jane spends more and more time with product, helping define long-term strategy.

All the while you’re sitting there making progress on your team’s core products and making sure everything looks right. Your ego loves it, but your mind is thinking ”Where are MY opportunities?”.

They’re not coming. You’re critical to this project. We can’t afford to lose you. Plus aren’t you swamped being in every pull request, meeting, chat thread, and discussion about your precious baby? You don’t have time for new opportunities!

This is the hidden cost of hoarding your legos: You become trapped in your role. No time for big opportunities.

Your goal should always be to code yourself out of the job.

Cheers, ~Swizec