Treat your career like a Grape Vine

In terms of a Grape Vine, in order to increase the quality of the product, you have to prune the foliage, buds, shoots and spurs.  Up to 85% of the foliage is usually pruned from the previous season.

Your career, in this respect, should be pruned as well.  Are you spending too much time in areas that are watering down your career i.e. product?  To hone our skills and become really great ( not just good ) at something, you have to focus a majority of your energy in that area.  You can't become an expert at Web Development, Graphic Design or even Sales if your focus is scattered.  Spend some time each year to prune areas of your career that aren't allowing you to be great.

If it ain't broke... BREAK IT!

I was listening to a pod cast by Michael Hyatt, who was celebrating his 100th podcast episode { congratulations }, and he said "I kind of believe if it ain’t broke, break it."  I'm writing this week to say that I believe the same thing.

Often times, as programmers or someone in any profession, we tend to air to the side of caution when approaching the task of trying something new.  After all, what we've done has worked good so far.  Why change it?  I certainly was a firm believer in this theory.  I remember one time as a programmer in my earlier days I was asked what I thought about a certain up-and-coming technology.  I said without thinking that I didn't care for it.  That what I was doing was working just fine.  In this instance, the up-and-coming technology was Linq.  For those non-technical people, Linq provides a way for programmers to look through data directly in their own language, such as C# or Visual Basic.  For programmers like me, it opened a whole new realm of possibilities.  Now eventually I did learn to use Linq, which led me to it's more attractive kissing-cousin { maybe a bad analogy but it sounds good } the Lambda Expression.  This new technology allowed me to select, filter, join and compare any collection of objects very easily and quickly.  Something I would have never been able to do using my old methods.

So the outcome of this story is simple.  I tried something different and it worked.  Now maybe at first it didn't seem like a good choice, as I would have been able to knock out any task quickly with what I already had pre-written.  But by learning something new, I allowed myself to expand in my knowledge and understanding of how certain things worked.  By forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone, I was able to grow.

Working is not necessarily moving forward.  If a clock is working, it's really just spinning in circles.  Try something different.  Break away from the path of 'working' and break stuff.  You'll be glad you did... no matter what walk of life you're on.

Five-pointer in the NBA?

We received an email today at work regarding leadership and the NBA.  Obviously with one of the most successful and influential companies, it's no surprise that you can find excellent examples of leadership all around. 

Here are 5 take-aways from that email I got:  { it's easy to identify because they were numbered! }

1.  Leadership is about team progress, not personal statistics. The cliché is true: It’s about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back of it.
2. Leadership is about doing the right thing when no one is watching, not just during a game or performance. Good leaders have pure motives.
3. Leaders lose the right to be selfish. They see the bigger picture and focus on the whole. Their measuring gauge: Did I make my teammates better?
4. Leadership begins with an attitude of service, sacrifice and passion. It is more caught than taught to others.
5. Healthy leadership always adds value and is never toxic. It works like the tide on the ocean: As it rises, all the boats go up. Leaders improve team culture.

I especially believe that #4 is important.  If you're in a leadership position, know that your team members are watching you.  Every time you gripe about a customer, every time you complain about another meeting, every time you skip a meeting... it will be noticed.  But the good news is every time you give praise, every time you accept responsibility, every time you lead by example... it will be noticed!  Get noticed for the right things.

Haters gonna hate

Often I come across an article or a blog post and become inspired.  Then I just want to share.  Well this post is no exception.  I came across a blog post by Seth Godin that said,

"Do your work, your best work, the work that matters to you. For some people, you can say, "hey, it's not for you." That's okay. If you try to delight the undelightable, you've made yourself miserable for no reason."

I often find myself questioning my work all the time.  I try to do work that I think everyone will love.  And if I think someone might not agree with what I'm doing or won't like it, I'll discard the idea and move on.  This is a mistake... and I know it is.  But why risk putting yourself out there?  Why risk being shot down... having your idea discarded. 

The reason why it's worth it is the reward always outweighs the risk and we always learn from the experience, whether good or bad.

So the next time you have an idea, don't let doubters hold you back.  Often times, you may find that the biggest critic to your idea is actually the person in the mirror!

Mobile App Dev - Native vs Hybrid

I attended a GR Dev Night last night with a few of my colleagues.  The event featured a panel of experts in their respective area of expertise on mobile app development.  Specifically app development using cross-platform tools. 

Mobile applications can be written natively, meaning using the language and tools intended for that operating system { iOS, Android, Microsoft, Blackberry, etc. } or using a cross-platform tool that allows you to write for multiple operating systems, in the language you are more comfortable in.

Here are a few of the cross-platform tools the panel discussed last night:

 

Xamarin:   https://xamarin.com/

 

Appcelerator:   http://www.appcelerator.com/

PhoneGap:   http://phonegap.com/

I personally would prefer to just write my mobile applications natively.  While it has it's challenges and learning curve, the performance and operability are not sacrificed to appease the masses.  If you're an Apple guy, write for iOS.  If you're a fan of Google, write for Android. 

But if you're writing an app for a client and they want to have their app exposed to everyone, then one of the cross-platform tools listed above is probably a better alternative.

Pass it on

I've been writing this blog for a few months now.  While it hasn't gotten quite the following I'd hoped, it seems a few people view it.  Thank you. 

While this blog will contain principals on computer programming, it will primarily cover important principals on business in general.  Things like accountability, integrity, trust, honesty, leadership, team-building and integrity.  Yes I said integrity twice.  It's important in everything we do.  I define integrity as simply doing what you say. 

So if you like this blog, tell a friend.  Share it with your colleagues.  Also, I'd love to hear back from you.  Send me your feedback or comment on a post.  After all... you're why I write my blog.

In closing, read my recommended reading books.  I truly believe these books will change your professional career and outlook on life in general.  They're quick reads, and I promise you'll read it again and again.  Click on the affiliate links to get these books today!

Thanks for following this blog!

~ Anthony

Anxiety

Anxiety.  What is Anxiety?  Wikipedia defines it as: "Anxiety is an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior, such as pacing back and forth... It is the subjectively unpleasant feelings of dread over something unlikely to happen..."

While that definition is accurate, it doesn't really 'feel' right.  It's just a definition.  Try this definition on for size.  Seth Godin, in his adult-picture-book 'V is for Vulnerable', says that "Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance."  From a professional standpoint, I think that is dead-on.  Anxiety over something, whether an upcoming talk or a new project, is just us internalizing an outcome we see in a situation before it happens.  And a majority of the time, that outcome is the worst-case-scenario. 

While imagining worst-case-scenarios is not healthy, I do think that Anxiety is a good indicator that you're on the right track.  That you're doing something right.  That you're moving forward!  You just need to see it as that and NOT dwell on any perceived negative outcomes.  We're much harder on ourselves than any person or situation will be.  So take a deep breath.... and forward you go!