“I would highly recommend (to) anyone who wants to start a business: first do two years working in somebody else’s small business. You’ll have access to information about revenue, profits, and costs. You might participate in meetings where negotiations happen. You’d work in an environment where you’re an integral part of the team. If you’re just one cog in a machine that has thousands of employees, you don’t really get to learn very much. You’re trained in very narrow and specific skill sets.” — Daniel Priestley
- “Glass Doors”
- Opportunities where you can see exactly what’s there
- It’s obvious win, with a tangible payoff
- “Wooden Doors”
- Opportunities where you can’t see what’s on the other side until you put in the effort to knock and go through them
- It’s opaque upfront, with only the potential for an outsized payoff
You don’t get anywhere by accumulating thousands of transactional connections. You get somewhere by building genuine relationships.
- Acting in the service of others
- Creating value for those around you
- Giving with no intention of receiving in return
Stop networking, start building.
Networking is saying “I’m friends with you to hopefully leverage your influence for my personal benefit.” Friendship is saying “I want more for you than from you. Seeing you win makes me happy.” Friendship is the way.
Networking is not about connecting yourself to others, but connecting other people to other people.
When you meet someone that you want a relationship with, you gotta think how can I add value to their life. Not vice versa
“Say Yes, Then No” — Say “yes” until you’re truly able to say “no.”
You should say yes frequently as you explore the possibilities, and then say no frequently as you double down on what works.
Learn when to be the worker bee and when to be the queen bee.
Take the job you want to have, not the job you want people to see you have.
At every job you should either learn or earn. Either is fine. Both is best. But if it’s neither, quit.
- Good upper management avoids surprises and keeps managers in the loop on what we are doing. The amount of context we think we are over-communicating is usually the right amount.
Always communicate more than feels necessary. Literally ask questions until someone tells you that you’re asking to many questions.
- Ask for early code reviews
- Start design discussions early
- Announce releases and milestones visible to the team
- Raise potential risks and failure modes before they become incidents
Over-communication prevents surprises, aligns expectations, and builds trust.
When in doubt, communicate.
練習「協調」和「搓湯圓」的技能
- 言簡意賅＋長話短說
- 第一句話就講重點/結論
Truthful Communication: speak the truth in a spirit of truth
Honest, open, and authentic conversations: 一五一十 > 掩蓋/隱瞞事實
Always communicate your accomplishments. Always make your work visible. Visibility compounds impact. Make sure that people understand the value you’re creating. Demonstrate excellence in everything you do. Keep a Brag Document.
發送任何電子郵件、訊息之前，確保你想要接收者做的事情非常清楚。
如果你想要行動，不要寫信，直接去告訴那個人你想要什麼。
Replace “Is it clear to you?” with:
- Am I making it clear to you?
- Am I making it easy for you to understand?
- Do you have any doubts in mind?
Never avoid hard conversations. Talk about the elephant in the room.
- You’ll never regret: Ask questions to get more clarity.
- You’ll always regret: Make a decision based on a story in your head.
Early feedback is usually better than late criticism. Nobody likes getting bad news , but everyone appreciates clarity.
- Quality
- Do I have a quality standard?
- Can my work be published directly?
- Expertise
- Do I have an expertise that will help the company move forward?
- Collaboration
- Am I a team player?
- Does 1 + 1 = 3?
- Learning curve How quickly can I improve ?
- Respect
- Am I empathetic enough to others?
- Do I put myself into others’ shoes?
Mind your own business. Don’t confuse your profession with your business.
- Profession: resolved around your income column
- Business: resolved around your asset column
Think Win-Win: Work in community. Individualistic mentality is not a path to long-term success in one’s career.
- ❌ Convincing me why we should hire you. (Short-term relationships)
- ✅ You are onto something. I don’t think it’s perfect, and don’t have much budget as well. But I believe what you’re doing, and I’m willing to let you to test your stuff in my company. (Long-term relationships)
The 4 qualities of a great career:
- I enjoy it
- I’m good at it
- I make good money
- I’m around fascinating people
Answer in reverse order:
- Where are fascinating people?
- In what ways can I make money with them?
- Which ones am I good at?
- Which ones do I enjoy?“
Don’t follow your passion, follow your energy
“Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it. The happiest, most passionate employees are not those who followed their passion into a position, but instead those who have been around long enough to become good at what they do. […] If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset (“what can the world offer me?”) and instead adopt the craftsman mindset (“what can I offer the world?”). Craftsman mindset focuses on what you can offer the world, the passion mindset focuses instead on what the world can offer you.” — Cal newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Do exactly what you say you are going to do. If you can’t follow through, communicate promptly, explain the situation honestly, and set clear new expectations.
Send thank you notes to coworkers when they help you out or give you their time.
Criticize your own work (ideally before others do).
Respond quickly to people and acknowledge when you can’t.
Bring solutions when you find problems.
「職能」是工作情境中「技能」的應用或表達
Hard skills get you hired. Soft skills get you promoted.
職涯的成長可以像攀岩，不只向上，也可以向左右延伸，找到不同的支點和路徑。
Remember that 80% of success in any job is based on your ability to deal with people.
Make efforts to get along with your co-workers, you’ll be with them a lot.
No matter what the meeting is about, if you randomly chime in with “it’s just/all about finding the balance,” people will always agree.
“Your best job will be one that you were unqualified for because it stretches you. In fact, only apply to jobs you are unqualified for.” — Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier
“When you are looking for a job, remember that somewhere an employer is desperately hunting for someone like you especially if you are unconventional. Your real job is to make that match happen and it is worth whatever time it takes.” — Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier
Regularly/consistently apply to jobs while you’re already employed. It’s the best time to find a new job, as you can negotiate way harder if you don’t have the pressure of needing a job. Always be looking. Don’t wait until you are desperate for a new job.
- Worst case: continue to be employed in the current role
- Best case: get a pay bump in a new role
Wrong mindset: “I have a job so I don’t have to look for a new job.”
If companies are posting jobs that don’t exist, people should be applying for jobs they might not take.
Swallow the frog for your boss. Do things others find coring & difficult.
Think like a principal. Act like an owner.
“I found in my career that if you take pride in the little jobs, people will think you worthy of the bigger jobs. Sooner or later we all have to do things we do not want to. But if you are going to do it, do it right. Build the best damn Frog Float you can.” — William McRaven, The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
The Founder Mentality: Go above and beyond. Take small things seriously
Build a reputation (公信力) for reliability. You can get pretty damn far by just being someone that people can count on to show up and do the work. Be the person who just figure things out.
Consistently reliable > Occasional extraordinary
You don’t get paid for complex, magnificent shots (Winner’s Game). You get paid for constantly avoid unforced errors (Loser’s Game).
Work under people you really admire. Work only with long-term people.
“If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day.” — Naval Ravikant
“Don’t ever work for someone you don’t want to become.” — Kevin Kelly
- High energy
- High intelligence
- High integrity
“Outcomes are what count; don’t let good process excuses bad results.” — Sam Altman
The amount of hours you work is irrelevant. At the end of the day you will be judged on results, not hours.
Hide Behind Headphones: Wearing headphones is one of the simplest and most effective ways to avoid workplace distractions. It sends a clear signal that you’re busy and prefer not to be interrupted. For some reason, people feel far more hesitant to disturb you when you’re wearing headphones. This is great because most of the time they don’t actually need to talk to you. The best part? you don’t even need to be listening to anything.
Use “(doctor, flat viewing) appointment” when talking to co-workers about your time off
Ask for help immediately if you find you need it, and listen carefully to the people trying to help you, because they’ve probably been there.
People don’t want to help someone who doesn’t want help.
A “WTF Notebook” is a valuable tool for capturing immediate problems or oddities you notice at work. Instead of acting impulsively or sharing every concern with your team right away, you write down anything that seems strange or problematic. This practice helps you pause, gather more context, and prioritize what to address later, rather than feeling compelled to fix everything as soon as you notice it.
好的面試官，不是找最會回答的人，而是讓對方最能展現自己的人。
刻意設計的面試題目，往往只測得到「準備能力」；
而自然的閒聊，反而能挖掘一個人隱而不顯的內在偏好與真實性格。
這類問題有三個特點：
- 不容易事前準備
- 即興編造的成本很高
- 只要追問細節，真假很容易被拆穿
因此，即使對方試圖「瞎掰」，在具體描述與連續追問下，往往會露出破綻/馬腳。
一個人如何使用不被約束的時間，往往比工作表現更誠實地反映他的價值觀與動機。
- 「在假日或閒暇時，你電腦的瀏覽器通常會開哪些分頁？」
- 「最近一次你完全放鬆的一天，是怎麼過的？」
- 「如果明天突然多出一個完全沒安排的下午，你會選擇做什麼？」
👉 觀察重點：是否偏向探索、學習、創作、社交，或單純消耗娛樂？
- 「你最近一次為了興趣，主動花時間深入研究的是什麼？」
- 「這個興趣你大概維持多久了？有沒有某個轉折點？」
- 「你有沒有哪個興趣，是你即使沒人要求、也會自己一直做的？」
👉 觀察重點：持續性、好奇心深度、是否享受過程而非成果。
人如何分配非工作時間，往往反映他的界線感、節奏感與自我覺察能力。
- 「下班後你通常會怎麼讓自己『切換狀態』？」
- 「最近一次覺得自己快要累壞，是怎麼調整回來的？」
- 「你覺得什麼樣的生活節奏，對你來說是最舒服的？」
👉 觀察重點：是否有自我照顧意識、是否知道自己何時該加速或停下。
問得深 > 問得多
- 時間軸追問：「那是什麼時候開始的？」
- 細節追問：「你剛剛提到的那個情境，可以再具體一點嗎？」
- 對照追問：「那跟你現在有什麼不一樣？」
