Looking at my wise learnings and advice to myself from my time at Microsoft and myself now, I have to say that humans are a tiny bit inclined to make the same mistakes on the hamster wheel of life, even if they are being given good advice by somebody who is, if I say so myself, not un-smart. It's our nature to stick to habits because they're comfortable, even if they aren't very good for us, and creating a new habit is hard. Recognizing an old one and killing it is even harder.
And so, reflections on the learning and lessons to myself, that I hope anyone could benefit from:
- Keep forming friendships with people you don't work with directly.
- You still have a right to discuss your salary, but no one wants to.
- Keep up to date on the office gossip, but try not to add to it.
- Company review systems are much less important than you think.
- Keep loving the company or shut up. No one wants to hear you badmouth your old employer.
- Don't burn bridges. If you do, hope that you're forgotten.
- Still try to know people who aren't the majority type.
- Nothing is personal, but maybe it should be. Let's stop calling people 'resources', eh?