Tech stacks are preference based, Second order thinking, and Being an overnight success in just 10 years.

Tech. I am an addict.

As I search the internet, randomly looking for people’s tech stacks to ogle and share, I am constantly in awe of all the siht out there.

Like wow. Are all these businesses making money?

And if they are holy smack, just build a good product, and they will come, eh?

But also, how does one decide what they want to use? What criteria make it so that you will pay for this but use the free version of that?

This is secret sauce type siht.

…

Everyone is different.

They have different values, different likes and dislikes, and different preferences.

Different ways they use a mouse, type on a keyboard, hold a pen in their hand, comfort levels with technology, amount of data they want, a user interface that is preferable, and the list goes ooooooon.

And that is where all these markets are.

It’s not about making the best of anything, there isn’t a such thing. And whatever you are best at, may be what a client needs today, but not tomorrow— that’s ok, someone else will take their place, because they are now at the right point in the “lifecycle.”

Find an industry, a niche, a market, and a feature. Be the best at something very specific, and expand in the tangents that are best suited.

Consider Apple and Microsoft; people still have complaints about either while also having people who are cult-like advocates.

Make a market.

For a today’s actual tech stack, here is a designer I came across whose list of tools seems pretty sophisticated:

I do not consider myself to be a smart person. I was once told I am book smart, not street smart. I think that it is true, though I have improved significantly; where I really do well is situational awareness. I can read a room of people I am familiar with like they are talking with their facial expressions and mood swings.

Understanding second and third order thinking hasn’t been easy for me, and I think a lot of it has to come from experience. I think you need to be able to see a really clear example before you can recognize situations where consequences are far-reaching.

A good way to mitigate the risks you don’t know could come of a change is to only change one thing at a time, being very controlled about the testing.

This is a skill set of successful people (read: cost saver) because if you can see the extended consequences of a decision, you can save a lot of time upfront. But if you are learning, sometimes you have to make the mistake to the the lesson.

This is why mentors are so helpful, you are realizing the gains of someone else’s mistakes and lessons.

this is not an easy skill, but it is definitely one to cultivate by paying attention to errors, how they occur, and how far upstream the consequence chain they were created.

Actual work. That is the difference between someone who “makes it” and the people who spin their wheels and wonder why the fcuk things never change.

I’ve been called cocky. I looked that person in the eye and said, “I am not cocky, I’m confident and I earned it.”

It was a bold statement. Whether I had managers who were asswohles or had high standards it doens’t matter— I’m 9 years into a career I both love and hate. I love business, and problem solving. I hate bullsiht.

I love learning new things.

My manager once said he wishes he could duplicate me but, he wouldn’t be able to keep two of me busy.

The work that is so hard… is the showing up when you did something wrong. It’s being accountable and owning when you made the mistake and then fixing it, like right now. It’s seeing what your manager or client struggles to get done and then filling in the holes (without them asking).

It’s doing the ugly work, the hard work, the siht no one else wants to do. It’s owning a role and either doing it yourself or hiring someone who can do it as good or better than you.

It’s showing up every day even when you don’t to. It’s getting in your car and crying as you go for a drive just to take a break and clear your head.

Hard work fcuking sucks. And I don’t mean working hard for the sake of working hard, you machoist. Leverage everything you possibly can to make it as easy or simple as possible. But excellent work has no shortcuts. Just people who know where they can cut corners and still create a piece of art and have no one the wiser.

Work hard on the right things, and get rewarded. I’m currently a big fish in a little pond. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Regardless, the values that got me here are universal. Have standards that are unfcukwithable.

1. Always do your best

2. Resilience is a superpower

3. You are your only competition

4. Always tell the truth— candidly, but kindly

5. Don’t make the same mistakes repeatedly

6. No one is going to save you, learn for yourself

7. Ignorance is acceptable as long as it’s temporary

8. Don’t play games, or hide behind bullsiht— be straight