How to Not Suck at Your Job

Here’s a take: Most tech companies would run more effectively (i.e. earn more long-term profit) if, tomorrow, they humanely fired the majority of their team. The way they’d decide who to fire would be simple in theory—fire people who cost more than the value they drive.

This essay is not designed to convince you of this take. But if you believe it, or at least will entertain it for a moment, then you may be interested in understanding what it would take to not get fired. [1]

Good news is, the bar for adding value is astonishingly low. So low, in fact, we are confident that seriously following the ideas in this short essay may increase the value you add to your tech company.

Note: Most startups are not particularly competent at most things. That may be okay—the power law is strong! But if you are looking around and it feels like everyone around you is below your own personal bar, it’s worth thinking about how you could make your situation better (e.g. train people, hire different people, leave the company).

Note 2: Some people are great at adding value without doing any of the stuff on this list. They might just be ridiculously good at one thing, and that’s all they do. That can be fine. Maybe you are that person. Go you.

Note 3: There’s no moral imperative to be the best employee of all time. Sucking at your ‘job’ is a totally reasonable life strategy. But this piece is for people who don’t want to suck at their job.

Things you can do to avoid sucking at your job:

Do exactly what you say you are going to do. When you can’t follow through, always communicate why and what the new expectations should be.
Work harder. You can actually just outwork people.
Understand customers. Use the product(s) yourself. Understand the end-to-end flow so you have a better idea of how to add value.
Eliminate meetings that are a waste of time. People will generally love you for it.
Don’t interrupt people, unless you’ve talked about it with them before.
Set an intention before scheduling a meeting.
Write objectives at the top of any document you are going to share with people.
Criticize your own work (ideally before others do).
Send follow-up action items within minutes of meetings or conversations.
Don’t default to live meetings. Always ask yourself: “Why does this need to be a meeting?”. If you don’t have a great answer, try communicating in writing first.
Send thank you notes to people when they help you out or give you their time.
If it’s an in-person company, be in-person.
Stay connected to the vision and goals for the company. Relate tasks at work back to the overall objectives for the company. Pay attention.
Remember details about the people you work with.
Be an amplifier for the founder. Run their virtual machine and do what they’re doing, or what they would do.
Don’t be limited to your department. Yes, do your job. But think globally.
Don’t be the person who’s always ‘blocked’ by small tasks. Find a way around the blockers.
Respond quickly to people and acknowledge when you can’t.
Bring solutions when you find problems.
Care more. Don’t be lazy and don’t let things slide. Be frugal as if the company’s money was your own.
Think long-term. Yes, hit your goals. But ask the ‘why’ questions.
Speak concisely. Be cognizant of rambling, especially in large groups when you are wasting other people’s time.
Pay attention when you are sharing your screen.
Bring relentless optimism. Don’t be afraid of competitors or others. Lead with confidence, not fear.

We also wrote a piece about standing out in general—not just at work—which you can read here.

[1] Don’t worry too much. We don’t think companies will actually follow this advice and fire a bunch of people who aren’t adding much value. Probably because they are optimizing for the short-term and are afraid (or have little incentive) to make this difficult of a decision. So you’re probably good to coast.

* * *

Enjoy these essays?

Or, if you have any feedback, contact us.