Ask Lemmy

It can take them up to a year to realize that I totally lied on my resume and am incompetent, by which time I am no longer so incompetent.

Learn to code switch if you intend to become any sort of leader. Different folks need different strokes to get them to where you need them to be, and learning how coworkers process information can put you in a better position to communicate with them.

Also helps bridge the gap between coworkers who may be talking past each other because they process information differently.

This works going up the chain too. Get to know your management and how they process information as well. Tailoring your reports/slidework to their needs will go a long way in getting them on your side.

It doesn't matter how powerful or pertinent the information is if it's in a undigestable format. I've seen game changing information be scoffed and useless information praised wholly based on how it was displayed. Looking at you, MBAs....

In summation, know your audience. Turns out what they teach you in literary classes is actually useful.

That's a great question and there are so many good answers in this thread.

Don't expect your superiors to ever back you up. I got burned so many times. I knew I was right, but they didn't have a backbone and only thought about the budget, their reputation, and the work they'd have to put in for damage control. I wanted to shut restaurants for their filthiness, but "Oh noes, what will the community think". Well, if someone dies, then it's on your head. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

Even if a conversation or direction was made verbally, always follow up with an email to say "Just to confirm our conversation today, you have directed me to...." Even if it's about holidays. My old boss was such a prick. Him and all upper management are the reason I am suspicious of everyone and everything.

99% of people don't wash their hands properly.

Just because someone was made a supervisor it doesn't mean they know what they are doing.

HR protects and represents the company, not you as an employee.

When I was young, I thought following the rules and procedures was how you got ahead.

Now I realize that while those are not unimportant, what's more important is figuring out how things actually get done and use those processes to get things done. To also help out those who need help getting things done where you can so that they'll help you. It's always amazed me how much people just get shit done regardless of rules and policies.

Also, document everything to make sure can show what you contributed and show that you did your part. If someone like a boss asks you to do something that's not according to written procedures, follow up with an email - "Just wanted to confirm we spoke about X and you told me to do Y" type of thing.

Work will drop you like a hot potato if they decide to let you go. All that extra work you put in unpaid - nobody will remember it, even if they remember it, it's not worth all of that time. You don't have to totally "act your wage" and do the minimum, but do NOT expend extra energy without tangible reward like overtime pay.

You can be friendl with people from work, but work is not your friend, neither are they your family. It is an arrangement whereby you give them energy, labour et cetera in exchange for pay.

Bad things you can change are problems. Bad things you can't change are circumstances. Solve the former, work around or adapt to the latter.

Cover Your Ass

No matter what, under no circumstances should you ever believe the company or place you work for will back you up.

If a company was placed in a situation where they can get rid of you for any reason, they will and they will do it as fast as possible.

Even if you believe you are irreplaceable, a company will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get you out of the equation.

Even if you have been with the company for 20+ years, if the company sees a way to save a hundred bucks by getting rid of you, they will.

Even if you and your boss and their bosses are buddy buddy and they are the godparent to your child and if you donated them a kidney, they will replace you.

Even if you show that you work the most, bring in the most sales, work the longest, get paid the least, and do work so everyone can slack off, they will replace you.

Also HR is never there for you. It is there to protect the company first and foremost. If you go to them for any reason, you are on a list to be the first to go.

Keep notes on your work.

1. Its proof of the work you have done
2. A lot of people forget things, including yourself.
3. It helps you reflect back. Helps with projects that are spaced apart as well.

Do NOT let people walk over you. Especially collegues. Especially collegues who have a history

Everyone is an opportunist. Be very selective with the opportunities you give to other people.

Being right doesn’t matter if you can’t convince others.

Hard skills are important for doing the underlying job, but soft skills matter more if you want to progress in the career as well as financially.

You could be the smartest person alive, but if you don't communicate effectively and play nice with others you're almost useless.

Star Trek lied to us about the competency levels of our co-workers.

Everybody has a test environment.

Some are lucky enough to also have a production environment.

At my first internship, they made me go through an entire bookshelf of safety training manuals that felt like they were written by the local staff. They were all full of things like "don't put a pipe on the end of a wrench to give you the leverage you need to do your job" and "don't forget to clock out at lunch or we'll have to assume you were gone for exactly one hour". Took me a moment to realize they were in fact telling me exactly what to do, but in a way that would also cover their asses. Always thought that was clever.

Don’t touch liquid nitrogen with your bare hands.

Don’t touch glowing metal with your bare hands.

Don’t touch exposed wire with your bare hands.

Going "above and beyond" is pointless and will at best just get you more work for the same pay

People are very bad at asking questions.

Some people will take dumb actions that risk their own lives rather than do something which would require a mild explanation later.

Experience and ability are not completely correlated.

Validate your backups regularly.

Also, make backups.

Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups. Always verify to make sure you(and others) got all the necessary information.

You might worry that you’ll come across as inexperienced or unprepared, but people usually appreciate the effort. And it will save you so much headache down the line.

It usually doesn’t need to be perfect, good enough is often good enough and can be a lot faster where trying for perfection might not get finished in time.

You gotta speak to people where they're at, in words they're willing to hear, and make them feel like you give a shit about what's happening to them.

When you see an opportunity to help without hindering your ability to do your duties, offer. If someone asks for help, try to find a way or apologize that you can't.

Your professional instincts don't impact policy unless you can prove that they're correct.

A good leader takes the blame for their followers and passes the credit forward.

Maintain a nice professional barrier. Your coworkers don't need to know everything about your life. And when people start engaging in shop talk the only white collar person there should be acutely aware of the fact that we're held to higher professional standards of general conduct.

I'm not obliged to do anything I'm not directly paid for. People put all sorts of massive tasks on me and I now ignore the task. If it is important enough to come back to me from 2 or 3 sources then I might look at it. All core tasks I get paid for come before these "extras".

Yes, the meeting might result in the same plan you made forever ago. But now everyone knows what, how, and why. The meeting wasn't called because your idea was shit, it was to bring everyone up to speed.