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Wow, I resonate with you. For me, I have always chased success. For me, success was choosing the next endeavor with a well defined goal, doing the work to achi

Wow, I resonate with you. For me, I have always chased success. For me, success was choosing the next endeavor with a well defined goal, doing the work to achieve said goal and finally getting recognition for it from peers and managers. This caused me to be razor focused and always choose the most productive tool in my skillset to get things "done". Which means that devs who focus on nitpicks annoy me. Managers that pay attention to fads and bullshit metrics annoy me. I have a very strong moral and ethical compass. Sticking to my compass gives me energy. I feel proud of my work, my creation and take pleasure in seeing people use it. But I won't try a new fad just for resume padding

inglor_cz 5y ago
I must admit that two people in a row praising strength of their own ethical compasses makes me wonder. Don't you realize that this judgment is best left to the outsiders? Humans are notoriously prone to misjudging themselves. We have all kinds of biases that allow us to see ourselves other than we really are. I for one have never met a moral/ethical person who would brag about their own moral strengths like that.
- Vinnl 5y ago
  The downside of that is that judgement by outsiders can only be based on what is visible; the only person who knows you're still sticking to those values when there's no one to see it is yourself. Additionally, of course you can echo outside judgement. I know a number of people who I'd consider particularly ethical, and they know I do.
  - mbrodersen 5y ago
    No your actions show your morals. When members of a Church molest children and protect priests that do, it speaks loud and clear about their internal morals.
    - Vinnl 5y ago
      Sure, what I'm saying is that other people don't necessarily observe your actions. If someone molests children without anyone around to see, even if others would call them moral, that judgement would still be invalid, in my view.
- starfallg 5y ago
  There's nothing wrong with unashamedly chasing success, but it tends to result in a certain mindset and personality. Not surprising to see a lot of those here on HN.
- 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
  I like this observation. To clarify, I was merely trying to point out that I had a rigid system of personal beliefs guiding me. My desire for success wouldn't override them. Whether or not these beliefs are good or bad -- that's for other people to decide. I truly believe that having a "code" is essential for anyone who's chasing success/money/etc.
- nine_zeros 5y ago
  > Don't you realize that this judgment is best left to the outsiders? Humans are notoriously prone to misjudging themselves. We have all kinds of biases that allow us to see ourselves other than we really are. This is a good question. How do I know if my judgement and ethical compass is really better? Over time, I developed two scales to measure this. 1. Does my ethical standard get work done? Does it lift all boats? Does it inspire a majority of people? Do these inspired people feel safe to speak up? If yes, I know I'm navigating something right. 2. Do the majority of equal-level peers (not my reports) approve of my decision-making? Are they happy about working with me? Do they feel like if they work with me, they will see success themselves? Do they feel safe to verbalize this? If yes, I know I'm on the right path 3. Do the vast majority of managers recognize what I am doing? Are they able to distinguish my style from others and are able to appreciate the outcome? If yes, I'm on the right path. The ethical compass didn't just come by reading books. It came from constantly trying to do good, constantly trying to be reasonable and constantly pivoting when I sense I'm going astray. It took me 15 years to do this. An example of a case where my ethical compass saved me - recently, my own manager tried to roadblock my growth to the next level. I couldn't tell why. In my mind, a manager would want their reports to grow to their full potential. This manager tried to string me along, stole credit behind my back. He gave me bullshit answers to why I am not at the next level. Me countering didn't appear to work because in his narcissitic world, all the work doesn't count. It hurt me but I had my ethical compass to rely on. So, I first validated my work, approach to work and thoughts with peers. I collected evidence of my work and talked with skip. He was aligned with my thought process and happy with my work. Since I now had validation that I was not doing the wrong things, I spent 3 months collecting evidence against the manager, by documenting his lies and his credit-steals. Showed this to the skip. He didn't like what the manager was doing. Ultimately the manager had to quit because his lies were exposed. I learned something from this episode. I validated my ethical compass. I tweaked the ethical compass a bit with my learnings on how to tackle self-serving assholes. Most importantly, I am left feeling very satisfied and comfortable, knowing that my ethical compass continues to help me get ahead.
gitanovic 5y ago
I know this might be annoying, but razor focused... is a really ridiculous picture I was imagining someone trying to focus a binocular with a razor... not really smart :)

inglor_cz 5y ago

I must admit that two people in a row praising strength of their own ethical compasses makes me wonder. Don't you realize that this judgment is best left to the outsiders? Humans are notoriously prone to misjudging themselves. We have all kinds of biases that allow us to see ourselves other than we really are. I for one have never met a moral/ethical person who would brag about their own moral strengths like that.

Vinnl 5y ago
The downside of that is that judgement by outsiders can only be based on what is visible; the only person who knows you're still sticking to those values when there's no one to see it is yourself. Additionally, of course you can echo outside judgement. I know a number of people who I'd consider particularly ethical, and they know I do.
- mbrodersen 5y ago
  No your actions show your morals. When members of a Church molest children and protect priests that do, it speaks loud and clear about their internal morals.
  - Vinnl 5y ago
    Sure, what I'm saying is that other people don't necessarily observe your actions. If someone molests children without anyone around to see, even if others would call them moral, that judgement would still be invalid, in my view.
starfallg 5y ago
There's nothing wrong with unashamedly chasing success, but it tends to result in a certain mindset and personality. Not surprising to see a lot of those here on HN.
0xFACEFEED 5y ago
I like this observation. To clarify, I was merely trying to point out that I had a rigid system of personal beliefs guiding me. My desire for success wouldn't override them. Whether or not these beliefs are good or bad -- that's for other people to decide. I truly believe that having a "code" is essential for anyone who's chasing success/money/etc.
nine_zeros 5y ago
> Don't you realize that this judgment is best left to the outsiders? Humans are notoriously prone to misjudging themselves. We have all kinds of biases that allow us to see ourselves other than we really are. This is a good question. How do I know if my judgement and ethical compass is really better? Over time, I developed two scales to measure this. 1. Does my ethical standard get work done? Does it lift all boats? Does it inspire a majority of people? Do these inspired people feel safe to speak up? If yes, I know I'm navigating something right. 2. Do the majority of equal-level peers (not my reports) approve of my decision-making? Are they happy about working with me? Do they feel like if they work with me, they will see success themselves? Do they feel safe to verbalize this? If yes, I know I'm on the right path 3. Do the vast majority of managers recognize what I am doing? Are they able to distinguish my style from others and are able to appreciate the outcome? If yes, I'm on the right path. The ethical compass didn't just come by reading books. It came from constantly trying to do good, constantly trying to be reasonable and constantly pivoting when I sense I'm going astray. It took me 15 years to do this. An example of a case where my ethical compass saved me - recently, my own manager tried to roadblock my growth to the next level. I couldn't tell why. In my mind, a manager would want their reports to grow to their full potential. This manager tried to string me along, stole credit behind my back. He gave me bullshit answers to why I am not at the next level. Me countering didn't appear to work because in his narcissitic world, all the work doesn't count. It hurt me but I had my ethical compass to rely on. So, I first validated my work, approach to work and thoughts with peers. I collected evidence of my work and talked with skip. He was aligned with my thought process and happy with my work. Since I now had validation that I was not doing the wrong things, I spent 3 months collecting evidence against the manager, by documenting his lies and his credit-steals. Showed this to the skip. He didn't like what the manager was doing. Ultimately the manager had to quit because his lies were exposed. I learned something from this episode. I validated my ethical compass. I tweaked the ethical compass a bit with my learnings on how to tackle self-serving assholes. Most importantly, I am left feeling very satisfied and comfortable, knowing that my ethical compass continues to help me get ahead.

gitanovic 5y ago

I know this might be annoying, but razor focused... is a really ridiculous picture I was imagining someone trying to focus a binocular with a razor... not really smart :)