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bogrollben | 4 years ago

Work hard, don't be a jerk and you'll be fine.

A lot of ambition these days is misplaced in my opinion. Why don't you try crossing over some of these diversified interests? Some very interesting things can happen when you mix disparate interests and before you know it, you could be one of the authorities in something new.

Or if not, then at the very least just keep being a great employee. There's plenty of room in tech for people that are consistently good but average. Remember "average" means you're already better than half the people! Rockstars are way overrated but they get all the attention. Don't buy the hype. Right now in tech (and the economy in general - speaking of the US here), employers would give their right arm just for a solid worker that shows up consistently and on-time. Showing up is half the battle.

Also maybe lean into the boredom a little. Sometimes boredom can be a great motivator into doing something different, wacky or new.

discuss

order

akudha|4 years ago

Work hard, don't be a jerk and you'll be fine.

This doesn’t always work. I have seen plenty of assholes easily climb the ladder, make tons of money while good people are stuck.

Example: A guy was making 60k, his employer spent tens of thousands on tuition so he could get MBA from a world class school. He took a new job a month after getting his MBA, doubling his salary. That is just one example, I have seen more. One of my CTOs mistreated nearly everyone, still kept failing forward. I’ve seen sexist and racist people at top positions. And so on.

This is not to say that one shouldn’t be nice, but to set the expectation that being nice automatically brings rewards. It does not work that way always.

saltcured|4 years ago

I don't think "don't be a jerk and you'll be fine" demands an inverse "be a jerk and you won't be fine". It shouldn't matter if other people succeed even "without merit". AFAICT, none of your scenarios of a jerk explain why someone who is not a jerk cannot also get along fine.

If you define your success as relative to others, and if this sort of "undeserved success" bothers you, then I would say you do have a competitive streak. Seeing everything as a zero-sum game is a very competitive outlook.

delaynomore|4 years ago

Well, his employer should've increased his salary accordingly. Frankly, I don't think that's an example of the guy "being a jerk".

rewgs|4 years ago

> Remember "average" means you're already better than half the people!

Well, no. It just means you're part of the bell curve. Which is probably around 60 to 90% of people.