John the Factotum

Professional Conduct

Much like I have personal values that guide my personal behavior, I have a set of values and/or practices that I exercise at work. Sometimes these ideas are easy to practice. Many times they're seemingly in direct conflict with "business needs", but almost never with customer needs. For better or worse, I have conviction about these things, and I try to remind myself of them often. If you work with me, you'll likely see hints of this list on a daily basis. Here's a countdown...

10. I use my experience. #

I've been around the block a few times. I've made a lot of mistakes. I've learned from others' mistakes. I've figured out a lot of patterns. When I leverage that experience and provide a solution or recommendation, it's not based on preference.

9. I think long-term. #

Speaking of experience, I often know pretty well what's around the corner...and the one after that. If it seems like I'm making things harder than they have to be, it's more that I'm favoring slightly harder today to make things WAY easier tomorrow.

8. I have high expectations. #

If you're on my team, be prepared to kick ass on a daily basis. Take pride in your work. We're not punching a clock. Oh, and if you're leading me and my team, the same goes for you.

7. I like to laugh. #

Just because we're kicking ass doesn't mean we're dead serious about everything. I spend way too much time at my job to be stressed out and to not make almost any situation potentially humorous. At the end of the day most jobs are not life or death. There will be all new people on this planet in 100 years. I choose to lighten up.

6. I believe in discipline. #

Discipline is doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether or not you feel like doing it, and doing it well.

Discipline is hard. It requires patience and being able to defer gratification. It requires faith. The best definition of faith I've heard comes, unsurprisingly, from the Bible: Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. With that idea in mind, radical alignment on strategy and process are essential for long-term success. The good news is that discipline is a snowball.

5. I question everything. #

Just because something has been a certain way does not mean that it should stay that way. Sometimes it should. Oftentimes, though, we need to let go of old habits in order to grow and evolve. What got us here won't get us there. I also question myself and my ways of thinking. It's all part of a curious mindset.

4. I believe in friction. #

The right kind of friction is productive. When thinking through an idea or proposal, I want to get opposing ideas and hard questions. I'm also going to provide friction to others.

3. I know my role. #

I'm pretty good at a few things. I'm happy to play the role of the expert in a situation when my experience allows and it adds value. I'm also not good at a lot of things. I know a few of them specifically. I will always defer to experts on those things. I will probably point out when you need to do the same.

2. I fill voids in leadership. #

I don't need to be in charge, but if nobody is in charge or the person in charge isn't doing their job, I'll probably take over. It's not because I want to. It's because I can't settle.

1. I speak my mind. #

If you're not interested in my opinion or you only want to hear good news, I'm probably not your guy. There are 9 reasons above that can help you understand why. I'll add one more here: Time is of the essence. Transparency in communication is the shortest distance to improvement.

But wait. There's more! #

Actually that's it for what I'm going to write down here. A top 10 is a tidy package. There are definitely a few that didn't make the list, but this list hits the high points. Hopefully the list inspires you, dear reader, to do some reflection of your own.