9. “When I was a kid, there was no
collaboration; it’s just you with a camera
bossing your friends around. But as an
adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating
the talents of the people you surround
yourself with and knowing you could never
have made any of these films by yourself.”
Steven Spielberg
"Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me"
We all face the same challenges when trying to carve a career path for ourselves. Using his personal experience, Amit Nayar will share three main insights he wishes someone had told him as he was building his software engineering expertise throughout the years that will help the audience frame their professional growth.
DIRECTOR OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
W/ MEDIA TEMPLE 1 YEAR LEADING SOFTWARE & ARCHITECTURE TEAMS
MEDIA TEMPLE IS WEB HOSTING AND CLOUD SERVICES
PRIOR WAS DIR CLOUD ARCHITECTURE AT AMERICAN APPAREL
PRIOR SPENT 16 YEARS IN DENVER IN VARIOUS ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
ALL SAID AND DONE, 18 YEARS IN TECH
OUT OF COLLEGE W/ BIOLOGY, WANTED TO BE DOCTOR
FLOUNDERED FOR A BIT, ODD JOBS
PROGRAMMING JOB TO PAY THE BILLS, FELL IN LOVE, NEVER LOOKED BACK
SHOW OF HANDS
PROGRAMMERS / TECHIES
BUSINESS FOLKS – PRODUCT, MARKETING, SALES, ETC
NEW COLLEGE GRADS
STARTUP FOUNDERS, ENTREPRENEURS
HOPING SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN THIS TALK
TAKE U THRU 3 KEY CONCEPTS REALLY WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME
START LEARNING AND WHAT TO LEARN THAT’S IMPORTANT IN TECH BUSINESS
HOW HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS COLLABORATE
LEADERSHIP
FINALLY WRAP WITH SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR YOUR OWN CAREERS
Q&A
LETS START WITH LEARNING
LEARNING SHOULD BE LIFETIME PURSUIT
WITH A BALANCE OF LIVING FOR THE MOMENT
MAYBE GANDHI’S WAY OF SAYING
“WORK HARD, PLAY HARD”
LITERALLY, WORDS TO LIVE BY.
LEARN BUSINESS & CUSTOMERS
GIVEN FOR BUSINESS PEOPLE – MARKETING, SALES, PRODUCT MANAGERS
ALSO IMPORTANT FOR TECH PEOPLE
EARLY IN CAREER DIDN’T CARE ABOUT BUSINESS OR CUSTOMERS
JUST WANTED TO CODE
REALLY GOOD PROGRAMMER,
WASN’T GETTING PROMOTIONS
STARTED TO LEARN BUSINESS
WHY WE BUILT THE PRODUCTS
WHY OUR CUSTOMERS BOUGHT
WHY THE SYSTEM I WAS BUILDING MATTERED
TRUE SATISFACTION IN WORK TOOK PLACE
CHANGED MY CAREER TRAJECTORY
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND YOUR BUSINESS AND CUSTOMERS
IMPORTANT TO LEARN TECHNOLOGY
LEARN TO CODE
GIVEN FOR PROGRAMMER
BUT IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS PERSON TOO
TECH STRATEGIC TO BUSINESS NOT COST CENTER
BUILD A WEB PAGE, A MOBILE APP, SOMETHING SIMPLE
UNDERSTAND YOUR TECH, DON’T JUST TAKE IT FOR GRANTED
LOTS OF RESOURCES AT FINGERTIPS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY, CODE.ORG, KHAN ACADEMY, GOOGLE FOR OTHER SOURCES
WHO KNOWS, YOU MIGHT JUST LIKE IT…
NOW THAT WE’VE GONE OVER KEY LEARNING CONCEPTS
I’D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION
CAN’T HAVE A TALK IN LA WITHOUT QUOTE FROM FAMOUS FILMMAKER OR ACTOR
LONG QUOTE BUT RELEVANT TO TOPIC OF COLLABORATION
LESS MATURE TEAMS ARE LIKE THE YOUNG SPIELBERG
ONE LEADER BOSSING EVERYONE AROUND
HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS ARE LIKE THE ADULT SPIELBERG
LEARN TO APPRECIATE THE TALENT AROUND THEM
THE WAY THOSE HIGH PERF TEAMS COLLABORATE IS CHECK EGO AT DOOR
EGO IS A KILLER OF CREATIVITY AND PRODUCTIVITY
HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS DON’T PRE-JUDGE BASED ON SIZE OF PAYCHECK
STIFLING IDEAS IF YOU DON’T HAVE OPEN DIALOG
THROW JOB TITLES AND ORG CHART OUT THE WINDOW WHEN SOLVING HARD PROBLEMS
SENIOR MOST PERSON NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
JUNIOR MOST PERSON NOT ALWAYS WRONG
FOUND YOURSELF IN NEVER ENDING ARGUMENT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY?
GOING ON AND ON ABOUT RUBY VS PYTHON
OR .NET VS JAVA
OR MAC VS WINDOWS
OR IOS VS ANDROID
OR OPEN SOURCE VS A PROPRIETARY STACK
AND ON AND ON AND ON
THEY’RE BOTH RIGHT, AND BOTH WRONG
WHATS THE RIGHT TECH STACK FOR YOU?
ANSWER…IT DEPENDS
WHAT PROBLEM TRYING TO SOLVE
IDEAS ARE DISCREDITED OR DISCOUNTED OR BIAS TOWARDS TECH WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH
KEEP AN OPEN MIND, DON’T BE A ZEALOT ABOUT YOUR TECH TOOLS
HOW DOES THE SAYING GO?
ONLY HAVE HAMMER, EVERYTHING BECOMES A NAIL
NOW THAT WE’VE GONE THROUGH LEARNING AND COLLABORATING
LET’S DISCUSS LEADERSHIP
QUOTE BY JOHN QUINCY ADAMS GREAT EXAMPLE HOW PEOPLE THINK OF LEADERSHIP
PUT LEADERS ON PEDESTAL
HOLD IN HIGH REGARD
BECAUSE THEY DO AWE INSPIRING THINGS
LIKE INSPIRE US TO DREAM
TO LEARN, TO BECOME MORE
I LOVE THIS QUOTE
BUT IMPLIES LEADER IS RESERVED ONLY FOR THE FEW
AND THIS SETS THE BAR PRETTY HIGH
I WOULD ARGUE THAT ANYONE AND EVERYONE SHOULD BE A LEADER
LEADERSHIP IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS
NOT REFLECTED IN A JOB TITLE
C-LEVEL, VP, DIRECTOR, YOU’RE NOT ONLY ONE THAT CAN LEAD
WHEN THINK OF THE BAR OF LEADERSHIP SET BY JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
AWE INPSIRING LEADERSHIP
RISK DISCOURAGING LESS EXPERIENCED FROM PRACTICING LEADERSHIP
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR, FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO LEAD
PROGRAMMER – LEAD BY CODE REVIEWS, PAIR PROGRAMMING, WRITING TESTS, CI/CD, TECH TALKS,
BUSINESS – SEE A GAP IN PROCESS OR OPPORTUNITY TO HELP A CUSTOMER TAKE INITIATIVE TO CLOSE THAT GAP
MISCONCEPTION – BORN WITH IT OR YOU’RE NOT
UNTRUE – YOU CAN LEARN TO LEAD
LEADERSHIP IS A SKILL THAT CAN BE PRACTICED,
CAN GET BETTER AT IT,
CAN HONE IT LIKE ANY OTHER SKILL
WE’VE COVERED HIGH LEVEL THEMES
LEARNING
COLLABORATING
LEAD
NOW WHAT?
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
THIS SUMS UP MY ENTIRE CAREER AND HOW I LIVE MY LIFE
MY 18 YEAR CAREER ON ONE SLIDE, 3 BULLETS
IF YOU TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM THIS TALK, I HOPE THIS IS IT
THING I LOVE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY – CONTANTLY LEARNING. LEARN EVERYDAY
SEEK TO UNDESTAND WHY,
UNDERSTANDING WHY BRINGS PURPOSE IN WORK
WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO, HOW – EASY QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
WHY IS WHERE MAGIC HAPPENS
EMBRACE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEAD
LEAD AND COLLABORATE WITHOUT EGO
SIMPLE RIGHT?
LEARN
COLLABORATE
LEAD
REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE
TOOK ME 18 YEARS TO COME TO THESE CONCLUSIONS
I HOPE I’VE HELPED YOU SHAVE OFF SOME TIME
IN YOUR JOURNEY TO SUCCESS
NOW I’LL TAKE SOME QUESTIONS
ALSO MEDIA TEMPLE HAS A BOOTH COME TALK TO US THERE
OR CONNECT ON SOCIAL OR EMAIL
THANK YOU!
ALSO MEDIA TEMPLE HAS A BOOTH COME TALK TO US THERE
OR CONNECT ON SOCIAL OR EMAIL
