Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing candidates for a position, and it came to my attention that many of the candidates missed out on taking advantage of their time in college. It could be that they were not aware of the opportunities, or the quality of the engineering program needed improvement, or the professors could have done a better job of mentoring the individuals.
I realized that 25 years ago, I too fell into this same group and wondered what advice I would give myself.
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Flow
The US Navy Seals have a mantra, “Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast.” Their mantra teaches us that being methodical and slow is a deliberate and careful approach to any situation and is the quickest path to completing the assigned task.
On many occasions, I have tried multitasking and I always ended up making more mistakes and spending more time overall when compared to if I had focused on one task at a time. In industry, it is better and less expensive to be late and right than early and wrong.
Most importantly, by being deliberate and focusing on one task you enter into a state called Flow, made famous by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (that is just an awesome name, I challenge you to pronounce it) in his book called “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience “, this state of mind is when you are most creative, you exert reduce mental effort and you actually enjoy the task. Those who master the state of Flow become experts in their fields faster and can remain in that state longer.
Don’t Worry about The Three Little Birds
To be successful have no fear. Accepting that failure is an option increases your chances of success because only then can you truly focus and enter a state of flow.
When I was eighteen years old, I was about to take my first solo flight to become a pilot. The international airport was surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. As I took off, I realized that I could not back out and would eventually come down, either by landing or running out of my three-hour fuel reserve. Panic started to set in which was compounded when unexpectedly the air traffic control told me to stay in a holding pattern for two hours due to a large incoming jet.
At that point I started to sing “Three little birds” by Bob Marley, I accepted that failure was a possibility and it allowed me to calm down, focus and eventually land the plane.
Understanding your possible outcomes and accepting failure is possible allows you to be more proactive instead of having the situation or others decide your destiny.
This is especially the case when it comes to the fear of job loss. Your provisions are already written for you. Like a bird, you just have to go out in the morning to seek it and come home with a full stomach. Your provisions will not come to you, you need to take action and fear will only hinder you. So, there is no sense in worrying or being afraid of a situation.
Learning or Mental Slavery, Your Choice?
When I was leaving college a professor’s parting words to me was to always read and to read everything. I did not understand it at the time, but I realized that by constantly reading you are continuously learning, and by reading everything your brain will make connections from other industries that will help you innovate and solve problems in your industry.
Through continuous learning, studies have shown that your chances of getting dementia or Alzheimer’s are greatly diminished.
Most importantly, you learn more about the world around you and not what you perceived to be. You can see through others’ perspectives, and as Bob Marley says in Redemption Song, you will be able to “emancipate yourself from mental slavery, for only you can free your minds.”
Preserve the Grit
Over the course of your career, you will have ups and downs and you will be tested. It is those with grit that persevere and come out to thrive on the other side. What many do not know, just as you feel drained of energy at the end of the day, your level of grit is also finite, and you need to preserve it for the tough times throughout the day. This is best exemplified in the book called “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth. Duckworth explores the benefits of grit, she reminds us to preserve our grit by choosing our battles, staying away from negative situations and people that will unnecessarily drain our grit, and most importantly how to strengthen our grit to last longer.
One of the things I have learned is that like a nation, you cannot survive if one is experiencing conflict both externally and internally. To thrive you need to focus on one of the struggles and be patient with the other.
Protect Sleep at All Costs
Some say time is your most valuable resource, it is your scarcest, but one of your most valuable resources is sleep and it must be protected at all costs. Without sleep you cannot perform at your best, you waste time, your work becomes sloppy, and you become a danger to yourself and others.
When we sleep, we experience REM sleep in the last 20% of our sleep cycle. Without going through REM sleep we wake up drowsy and are unable to perform the following day. This means by reducing the number of hours we sleep per night we reduce how much REM sleep we get, and our performance suffers the following day.
According to Matthew Walker, a leading sleep expert, 10 nights at 80% sleep is the equivalent of going without sleep for 24 hours. This results in draining our energy, our ability to think, and our level of grit. It means we cannot perform at our best, and wealth and lives can be lost. Therefore, we must protect our sleep at all costs.
Strive for 100 %, enjoy the 85%
As with every endeavor you need to put your 100% effort into it. This is part of being deliberate in completing the task. Maximum effort and deliberate action make you stand out amongst your peers during your career.
Doing your best does not mean every single problem can be accomplished at 100%. Many times, if you get only 85% of the task accomplished, it is good enough. Take the 85% as a win. With experience, one will realize that accomplishing a solution to 85% of the criteria makes the solution more robust to the unknown and that the last 15%, many times, may take exponentially more time, effort, and money to achieve.
Imposter Syndrome Trumps Dunning-Kruger Effect
Your career will see occasions of self-doubt about one’s ability creep in and even lead to depression if one ruminates over it. This is known as the imposter syndrome. Surprisingly, this could be a good thing. Kevin Cokley, who prefers to call it the imposter phenomenon and is a leading expert on the subject, says that many successful people experience this phenomenon, and could be an indication that you are good at what you do.
On the other hand, when one feels that they are an expert on a subject, they need to be careful, because they could be fooling themselves and experiencing the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This is where one’s lack of skills, experience, or knowledge on a subject makes them overestimate their competency on the subject. Resulting in them making a fool of themselves, and without knowing, being the cause of a project failure.
If Grasshopper, find your Shifu
Many times, when my kids ask a question for guidance, I address them as “Grasshopper”, just as the young, innocent, and ignorant Kwai Chang Caine was addressed by his Shifu, Master Po, in the show Kung Fu. When one finds a Shifu, one finds a mentor who one trusts, will not insult, and respects the Grasshopper’s journey to enlightenment.
The Grasshopper must find a Shifu who shares similar values and wants to see the Grasshopper thrive. The Shifu can be a single person or multiple individuals but should be willing to guide the Grasshopper along the path.
An important event in my life came when I was in a 5k road race, as it began, I was left way behind and got lost. Every time I saw a race official, I asked for guidance on where was the course. Way after everyone else finished the race, I came in 3rd from the bottom. The next morning, I found out that I unbelievably won the race! I won because the other runners followed the person in the lead that took the wrong path and thus everyone was disqualified. That day I learned that you never give up and always ask for guidance when in doubt.
By surrounding yourself with the right mentors, you will grow, and you will be known and judged by the company you associate with.
Small solutions conquer big problems
Many times, throughout one’s career, one will encounter a problem that feels insurmountable or unsolvable. This is when you break the problem into smaller and smaller parts until you can solve those smaller parts. Also, to get to a solution quickly, never assume without confirmation because a wrong assumption could steer you away from a simple and otherwise fast solution.
Dividing the problem into smaller solvable parts make your solutions more robust and helps to reduce any issues that could arise from, what Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham coined and used inside NASA, as “the unknown unknowns”.
Grey Areas are Everywhere
A dilemma that feels unsolvable is when your ethics are in question, especially as a Professional Engineer. It is important to strive to always keep your ethics, your values, and always protect the public interest.
Everyone’s value system is different and only you can decide what is ethical but at the end of the day. You will have to live with the consequences and your conscience.
There will be times when you can find no right answer, the grey area. When in doubt take the path that does the least harm.
Always Be Merciful but Just
Another part of your career where your ethics will be tested is when you must discipline an employee or decide on what punitive actions to take against a customer or vendor. It is important to show mercy but to act justly. Even if it is against yourself.
Many times, a situation is not clear cut, maybe a lack of communication, a difference in culture, or a different value system, which can mushroom into taking disciplinary actions. Therefore, do not go beyond what is just. And you never know if you will need that party again, the proverbial “don’t burn your bridges”. Acting justly strengthens your reputation as being fair, others’ respect for you grows, and most importantly it reduces corruption around you.
You Keep What You Give Away
To be successful throughout your career and to leave a legacy of good; one must become a giver. This means going the extra mile for others, being the mentor and that friend. Successful people strive to solve problems for others. It does not mean always giving your all. As a giver, you must have the ability to say ‘No’ to useless or trivial requests that will waste your time and drain your grit.
Helping others means you are helping the community and yourself. In Adam Grant’s book “Give and Take”, he says that the most successful persons are givers, and doing so rejuvenates your energy to be more creative, to have more grit, and to thrive.
To a giver, the experience is more valuable than money and makes them feel more content and wealthier, and they live with fewer regrets.
This is just a few things I would tell my younger self. What would you add to the list? How would your younger self respond?
I think my younger self would accept some and say yeah right! for the rest. Do you agree? Are you still the Grsshopper or now the Shifu?
I enjoyed this article Kenzo. Well-written with many great and valueable points. I would definitely tell my younger self to sleep more. I still need to learn to sleep more. Even now as an adult sleep seems to be that elusive thing I keep chasing. There are so many benefits to a good night’s rest.
Thanks! For the Campionite feedback!!