In a field like software development, how do you balance the need to "stand out" with the importance of teamwork and collaboration?
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Top comments (19)
I think that if you prioritize teamwork and helping your team succeed, your team in turn will lift you up and let you shine ✨
This guy's got the magic sauce!
"Do your projects as quickly as possible, ahead of schedule."
"If you're a hacker, try to hack into your own company's system to showcase your skills (as a white hat hacker), so that they can recognize your talent and your boss will be amazed by your abilities."
"When you're good but not getting noticed, try to rebel and go against the norms. That will make people look at you with a different perspective."
Betty Edwards suggest you draw things upside down in order to master the concepts of form and to see things from a different perspective. Maybe this is that sort of thing =P!?
I am not sure if going against the grain is as welcome as synergy. But I'm open for any and all chaotic invitations =P!
If everyone is the same and doing the same job, it's difficult for them to recognize your hidden talent unless you do something to stand out. That's when you become the focal point for everyone. Going against the norm in a job that is typically criticized can be accepted depending on the circumstances. However, when it comes to being a hacker (white hat hacker), it is a sensitive job that shouldn't be publicly disclosed. It's important to be cautious about highlighting your skills in that role. Sometimes, if everyone knows about your prominence, it can create hidden obstacles and complications in the future. In conclusion, showcasing your own abilities depends on your capabilities, work process, and recognition. It's always a joyous moment when people acknowledge your achievements, and it takes time for others to recognize your standout qualities. Being skilled internally without expressing it externally means that others won't know what you're capable of. However, you will still feel satisfied knowing that you are skilled. Sometimes, being skilled doesn't necessarily mean standing out in a crowd. What matters is that you find joy in your own accomplishments, and the effort you put in is worthwhile.
I think white hat would actually be perhaps the only type of hacker that I would disclose being. I think they're stellar people. I'm not sure if they're doing these things for the corporations or for the people, but any security loophole that can be closed sounds good to me.
Someone once told me about something having to do with life being like poker, and not to show your cards. But I clearly did not get the memo. I can say through the interactions I've had in a professional (++) setting, the best thing I can say is there's a lot of mental chess going on. People will size you up, and pigeonhole you until you've left their presence. In that sense, it does seem far more intelligent to be mindful and operate at the highest tier of your capacity.
Yet something strange always hits me, and it's that there's individuals out there that are doing far better than you or I, and their general selling points are not the regularly pushed characteristics/ethics. So I often wonder are we victims of the crab-pot? Are we censoring ourselves in the name of some workplace norms that actually end up harming us long run? Pardon, that was a tangent - but it really gets into my head sometimes.
I would agree with you that there can be strength without statements. If you do not celebrate yourself, who will celebrate you? If you find self-satisfaction it tends to come out as confidence. And people will follow others their perceive as confident/competent - regardless of if they are or not =P!
Cheers!
*p.s. - in the face of coding I think comprehension boosts confidence ten-fold.
Your life cannot be compared to a deck of poker cards. Each day brings different events, and the meaning of each day is determined by how we perceive and experience the emotions associated with it. If you have negative actions or thoughts, it means you are not enjoying it. So, the question is: why dwell on past sorrows? Let them pass. Instead, let's embrace life and find happiness in each day. As for the nature of work, sometimes there are difficulties, and that's normal. But if there is excessive pressure due to external factors or misunderstandings in the work that are not resolved, why burden yourself with that? The state of being tired from work is not necessary.
I think more so the concept behind interactions being equivalent to poker is just a statement to say - allow others to show you who they are before you show them all of yourself. Essentially it's a method to avoid troublesome people and the traps they set. At least, to my understanding. Only reason why I said I know of it but poorly apply it is because I am the living embodiment of a run on sentence.
I hear you on the concept of the past being the past. I'll agree it's an illusion in the sense that it, as well as the future, do not exist as pertaining to our current understanding of time. I also believe the past is worth exploring. We learn a lot of lessons that way, and can change our viewpoints (hopefully for the better). I lived many years explicitly believing in sort of a "Candide" mindset, which I guess folks are calling toxic positivity now a days. I found personally it tends to make you a high target of extortion and manipulation. In a perfect world, we'd all care for one another as we each need. This unfortunately is not that world.
I equally understand the concept of anger/bitterness being an entity of self-harm. And that you can pick and choose to an extent your focus/demons. And much as you say - there's a lot out of our control so why not control what we can? I get that. I just find going at things with an optimistic realism standpoint helps ground me more than a belief in the eternal wellspring of good intentions. I suppose? I'm not sure how else to say this. It's just something that has shifted in my mind as I've gotten older. I'm worried I might be too jaded now though.
I agree with your point of view
I mean I agree with yours too! Hahahaha!
Need to concentrate on one particular area of expertise...small team lets say will have front-end, back-end, and lead in it...be the expert in Javascript(specifically bootstrap libraries), HTML(dynamic pages), CSS for handling Client sides or good in API designs(server side), or thorough knowledge of handling Configuration tools(GIT)...So this will help you to stand out...even in JS be an expert/core knowledge on a particular area...this will surely make people contact you even from other teams in an organization.
I don't view standing out on the spectrum of teamwork and collaboration, unless of course you're advocating for radical changes to the status quo (example: pushing for a complete rewrite of an active project)
Ultimately, I would encourage you not to focus on standing out, rather that you focus on delivering quality work when assigned, and making meaningful participations with your team members during discussions or other supplemental tasks. Over time, you'll develop a positive reputation with your consistency which will make you stand out among your peers.
Three things I try to do to stand out are:
When I say "listen intently" I mean that I work hard to pay attention to others' when they're sharing thoughts and planning. I know I often struggle to stay focused during a group brainstorm when folks start sharing problems or issues they're facing because my mind wants to grab hold of something they've thrown out and expand on it, take it in another direction... basically, I'm ready to get to work on it. If I can slow myself from jumping straight into my own thoughts and give them my full attention, I might get some more important information from them — solutions they've already tried, why this problem is important for them to solve, etc. And, if I respond with questions to pick apart the issue more, my questions may enlighten and inspire someone else in the group to come up with an idea. Also, by participating openly, I'm helping to create a good interactive atmosphere where others feel normal asking questions and contributing their thoughts. If I don't participate in these important conversations, it's a missed opportunity for me to stand out... or worse maybe I stand out in the wrong way.
Another thing I try to do is regularly collaborate with and support folks. Helping others out and building strong relationships goes a long way to making you stand out. Not only that, but it also makes it so that others want to help and support me.
Lastly, I'm not afraid to champion myself and my own wins. When I finish something important I let folks know and keep a log of what I've done somewhere! Also, I watch what others are doing and when they complete something, I give them kudos. People notice and appreciate this and if they see that I've completed something important, they're more likely to give me kudos as well.
Your opinion is very good and practical, and I think so too :))
Thanks a bunch, Dinh! 🙌
My view is coming from someone who has been a dev and a project manager.
Never overpromise. Ever. Underpromise and over-deliver. If you tell me it'll take 40 hours and you get it done in 30 and it's buttoned-up, I'm going to sing your praises from the rooftops.
Be the go-to guy one one technology. Know it inside and out. I was at a technical marketing agency and we only brought in full-stack developers. This guy knew CSS inside and out and it made him invaluable, and it made him stand out among the full-stack guys who were grudgingly part of the front-end world.
Share. The aforementioned CSS genius, whenever he helped someone with a thorny CSS bug would always explain how he fixed it and why he did it the way he did. It brought the whole team up.
Don't just bring up problems -- bring solutions. Someone who just mentions problems is a whiner. Someone who points out a problem and provides a couple of possible solutions is a team player.
This answer is excellent, very good, I agree with your point of view
I am disgustingly loud, and will cram presentations into my brain until they come out sounding liquid smooth. I also advocate for myself. In another life, I've done grunt work and managerial. Now the catch is, as I said elsewhere, I don't know how to do it in an office space. That's news to me.
If anything, give me advice on how to be less brazen. Cause from what I heard there is no I in team, but there is meat. Or something like that =P
Be helpful a successful team will highlight your success too. People will come to know you as a go-to person. Thank people and share credit, when do. It has a boomerang effect.
Note: all of this is applcable if you are not working in a toxic environment. If you are, standing out is the least of your problems.