Two memorable work life lessons?

Screeeech · Tuesday at 13:57

Just as a bit of fun,

What are two simple, work life lessons you've learnt over the years? two things which have stuck with you - maybe there was an incident, somebody got fired or you got a promotion/advancement, and out of it - you learnt something, if so - what was it?

Two of mine are;

Slow and steady wins the race: If I had a pound for every time I've watched someone (includes me at one point) go 'hell for leather' at something, too fast - make a huge mess, miss important details or just add to existing chaos, I'd be very rich.

Perfect is the enemy of good: Sometimes you start out with this perfect vision of something, but after a while the pursuit of perfection simply leads to an overcomplicated mess, or absolutely nothing, where it would have been better to just make something 'half decent' and iterate, to make it 'very good' instead.

Screeeech · Tuesday at 23:02

OspreyO said:
Don't assume, check.
Trust nothing you're told.

Yeah this is a great one.

Also, it makes me laugh when companies try to cut cost by hiring cheaper employees and filtering out the ones who want more money: If you think hiring high quality people is expensive - wait until you hire a bunch of idiots!

Screeeech · Wednesday at 09:26

booyaka said:
It's not what you know, it's who you know

It's probably the one we all learn first...

And never forget!

Screeeech · Wednesday at 11:48

Another one I'm currently stuck in;

If you ever get offered a role that involves going into a company, to fix a huge gigantic mess: It was probably a culture problem in the first place, it won't ever be solved and you'll be dragged down to the same rubbish level that got them there in the first place.

Screeeech · Wednesday at 16:25

Regarding the moaning thing,

It's certainly something I wouldn't do - once you get known for being a 'moaner' people won't take you seriously, disregard you - or find ways to avoid you, people who moan all the time can be a real bore, and drag others down.

Same as being like 'chicken little' running around saying the sky is going to fall, (even if you're right) there are better ways to point out problems, than get overexcited - people will just ignore you.