Written by When you are a trusted advisor to people, sometimes they will ask me for my honest opinion. I always offer my honest opinion, but asking me explicitly for my “honest” opinion has become code for “your absolute brutal opinion on this subject matter.” Recently I was asked about someone’s career prospects, and I told that what I thought given what they had been sharing with me. I picked an appropriate picture.
There are only a couple of real types of corporate cultures when it comes to careers. Whether they say it or not, my experience has shown me that you have those who believe in:
- Stinky Fish - We promote 1 or 2 levels only, then we hire from the outside. The philosophy, subconsciously, is that they need to bring in fresh blood regularly and that they really don’t trust they talent once they’ve been around for a while.
- Cult-y Goodness, or earn your stripes here. This is the philosophy that after you have joined the company that you’re prior experience, no matter what you have done, is no longer relevant and everything needs to be proven here, again.
- Prisoner of the Past. This is where your previous experience is constantly revisited and valued, but wait, there is a draw back if you want to get skeptical about it. The idea here is that you are always tied in some way to your past. If you are a technical person but used to be in sales, well, that sales experience (even though it was 7 years ago) is still of disproportionate weight compared to the 7 years since.
- Momentum. Momentum is where you are either a rising star or a sinking ship. You’re put on a crazy project, you succeed AND people like you, you’re a rising star! You’re put on a crazy project, you succeed but key big wigs don’t like you, you’re so-so or worse. Internal politics are thick in this one because it really comes down to marketing, marketing, marketing. It isn’t really merit baed at all.
Now all of these do have a positive side, for example:
- Stinky Fish – If you are trying to seriously transform the company that you need to think about when you hire in, rather than promote up, in order to continue the shift.
- Culty Goodnees – Some people actually don’t lie on their resume, but it can be hard to tell who those people are. If they show you they can do it once, you know ‘for real this time’, they then most probably can do it.
- Prisoner of the Past – The truth is that your past is of value, and whether or not you want to do it again, it’s part of the wisdom and experience you bring with you. This is of value to the company, and should be of value to you as well.
- Momentum - When you are starting your career or when you are really to slam a career into overdrive, this works to your advantage because it means they more you can do the more the company is going to offer you to do and you are going to get rewarded for it. Those who aren’t doing well can’t usually hide in these cultures.
My friend who asked for advice is in a Momentum culture, but the problem is that he was hired into what I see as a ‘automatic lose’ situation. After 6 months of being hired the management team weren’t leveraging his core skill which was extremely valuable in the marketplace. Promises of leadership, management, driving a key segment of the business were left to grow mold, and when first review time came he got a “Well, you’re still here, aren’t you?” type of pat on the back with those type of alligator smiles you can’t quite figure out.
Now I think he’s about 2 years in, and while some of what he was promised a couple of years ago is starting to happen, his career just isn’t getting the kick he expects. He isn’t getting the support during review times, there’s the constant mixed messages going on, etc.
So he asked me, for my honest opinion. As I said, that means “Brutal, savage if you must, raw thoughts” opinion. Here’s what I outlined for him.
1. If you are in a momentum culture, you are dead if you don’t have traction after a couple of months. Now the lower on the hierarchy you are, the more time you have. If you were hired right out of university, you can have 2 years. If you were hired at a senior level, then you have about 4 months.
2. If you are moving and shaking and nothing is happening after several months, leave. Momentum cultures that give you no momentum are going to take all that indecision around you and turn it into concrete which will drag you down going forward.
3. You cannot play it safe at a momentum culture company, at best after doing a couple of small miracle jobs or one big one, you can ‘park yourself’ for 6 months as you ride some of the momentum you earned. Play it safe without momentum, and you are telling your career that you don’t need it anymore.
A career that is unmanaged is a terrifying assortment of random acts. You need to understand the culture of the company you are in, what the dynamics are around you, and understand not what is expected of you but understand what is the implied expectation of the top performers and figure out if that fits with whom you want to be. If not, then leave.
And if you’re wondering what this has to do with software architecture and consulting, tons. If you understand your client and their context, then you can better understand how they need to manage information, marketing of internal info, and politics. It’s not just about the technology after all.
