Photo Credit: kennymatic on Flickr.
When I was a kid, I had a Halloween ritual. I would come home from Trick-Or-Treating with a pillowcase full of candy. Then I sat on my bedroom floor and sorted it into 3 piles: Loves, Likes, and Everything-Else.
The Loves were things like Butterfingers, Snickers, and Almond Joy… these were the things that I wanted to devour all at once and savor for as long as possible.
The Likes were things like Laffy Taffy, Sweet Tarts, and Blow Pops… these were the foundation pieces… that is to say, the Likes were dinner and the Loves were dessert.
And then there was Everything Else. This was the biggest pile, more than half of the candy wound up here. There were the waxy, fake-chocolate pieces wrapped in a foil Frankenstein, Jolly Ranchers, and Smarties (the American sugar-wafer things, not the M&M-type candies of the same name popular in Canada and UK). There were random waxy licorice pieces, Pixie sticks, and random hard candies like your grandmother had in candy dish for guests. When my sister asked if she could have a piece of candy, this is the pile I reached for first.
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The Secret Sauce is a series about the seemingly simple things that make all of the difference in creating success and living your dream life.
Photo Credit: the_dugghouse
About six years ago, I was a mid-level software engineer on a large team at Yahoo. I had been with this team for a little over a year when our vice president of Engineering was replaced.
The new VP of Engineering came in with a lot of rules and ideas. Some made sense and some just made me snicker. But one new “rule” in particular really tickled my irreverent sense of humor.
The VP thought that the issues the team had been having was due to a lack of commitment. He met with all of the managers and taught them what commitment meant. I began to see managers walking around making a C shape with their hand and asking everyone: Are you committed?
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As I look around my home office, I see things that I love like my guitar, a picture of “Shakespeare’s London”, and photos of my grandmother. But when I look closer, I see piles of paper, stacks of books, and a bunch of other random crap. And I don’t even want to think about the closet.
But I can still sit at my desk. I get things done. And I can find what I need most of the time.
So really, it’s not that bad… is it?
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Photo Credit: herrolm
Three years ago, I was a senior software engineer at Yahoo with a six-figure salary and premium benefits. I was a technical leader and respected by my peers. It was everything I had dreamed of when I was in college.
And yet, after 8+ years of a career that I was good at and that came easily to me, I felt like I was in the wrong place… like I was driving in circles. So I slowed down and turned my blinkers on. I gave 2-months notice to my manager. I had a heart-to-heart with his manager (my director). And then I went home and celebrated. I could see the exit sign; I was almost there.
A week later, the director of my group called me into a meeting with our senior vice president. Uh oh. What had I done wrong?
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