8 Mar 2010
Reading between the lines
When I started my first job after grad school, I was starry-eyed, young, eager, and ready to change the world through kick-ass software that would set a new bar. I still am, but I’m also a little less impatient for it to happen yesterday :-)
There were some pretty high and some pretty low times in my first job. But, none of it was bad experience. At times, I felt like I was in the wrong field, or that I was horrible at my job, or that a way different skill set was required of me than anything I’d been exposed to, and I was never going to be able to learn this skill set before people gave up on me.
Some of those skills weren’t really anything related to delivering software. What I’m referring to are the skills related to teamwork. I remember being particularly bad at conflict, which, of course, happens all the time, in the workplace and in personal interactions. I’d get upset and walk away in a huff, wondering how the other person couldn’t possibly see what I was saying.
I was fortunate that my first manager was an exceptional manager; he could see something from almost anyone’s point of view and cut through the disagreement with crystal clear explanations. Without delving too much into details, I’d like to say that teamwork & collaboration were pretty new skills to me coming out of college, and it very jarring that the “point, counterpoint” culture of science & engineering in the university setting did not really apply to the teamwork involved in building & shipping actual products, or personal relationships, for that matter.
