Uploaded byPhil Buckley
Why Making A Dent is All That Matters
Phil Buckley's document emphasizes the importance of making a significant impact in the workplace, which he refers to as 'making a dent.' He highlights the characteristics of 'smart creatives,' who are deeply engaged and knowledgeable about their fields, and outlines key questions to assess meaningful work and personal growth. The piece encourages sharing knowledge freely and fostering an environment where individuals feel challenged and trusted to excel.
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Why Making A Dent is All That Matters
- 1. why Making a Dent isall that matters Phil Buckley @1918
- 2. In 1959 PeterDrucker coined the term “knowledge workers”.
- 3. 50 years afterDrucker we have what Google calls, “smart creatives”.
- 4. She is usersmart. No matter the industry, she understands her product from the user or consumer’s perspective better than almost anyone. We call her a “power user,” not just casual but almost obsessive in her interest. She is the automotive designer who spends her weekends fixing up that ’69 GTO, the architect who can’t stop redesigning her house. She is her own focus group, alpha tester, and guinea pig. Smart Creatives don’t keep quiet when they disagree, they get bored easily, they’re multi-dimensional, combining technical know-how with business acumen.
- 5.
- 6. are you doing meaningfulwork? Question 1 YES = 1 NO = 0
- 7. are you surroundedby smart(er) people? Question 2 YES = 1 NO = 0
- 8. are you challenged? Question 3 YES= 1 NO = 0
- 9. are you trusted? Question 4 YES= 1 NO = 0
- 10. do you feel safe? Question5 YES = 1 NO = 0
- 11. To leave adent, you need a score of 5. If you didn’t score a 5 today, it’s time to start doing things differently.
- 12.
- 13. focus on whereyou provide the most value Future Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz brings value by hitting clutch home runs for the Red Sox in the post-season in the most dramatic fashion. This gif shows Ortiz’s ONLY HIT in the American League championship series – a grand slam homerun in bottom of the 8th inning to ties the game. David Ortiz also plays first base, but that’s not where his greatest value is.
- 14. The word practicehas a slightly different definition than most people think. It’s not just swinging a baseball bat in the backyard - it’s about a concerted effort to improve. What that means to software engineer is “show me the stuff you’re working on in your free time”. Tell me the story about the weekend you stayed up 36 hours to figure something out. If you’re not working on some kind of moonshot, then you’re not challenging yourself. GIF is the MIT mechanical cheetah jumping over obstacles with only about 1 meter in which to figure out what to do. passionate practice
- 15. That doesn’t meanyou speak at 100 events a year, it means your peer group know of you as a leader. You don’t need a certain title to be a leader - but you do need to stand out in front, and inspire people to follow you. That can happen in many ways, but you have to make a real dent. By “dent”, I mean - you have to be noticed. Maybe you have your graphic design stuff featured on Dribble or your code is popular on Github or your posts on Medium get a zillion comments. People respect your work. become known
- 16. BONUS – Giveit away. Make a habit of taking everything you know, everything you’ve learned and all your crazy ideas of what’s coming in the future and share them liberally. When people ask you for help with something… help them. For free! Help them because you’re amazing at something and they want to learn. Stop worrying about “should I be getting paid for this?” I love something my friend Ashley Berman Hale told me one day after she moved out to Colorado, “The more I help people for free, the more people want to hire me.” It sounds crazy at first, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you spend an hour with someone and they fall over backwards watching your magic, they’re not going to want to do it themselves, they’re going to want the master magician! They want YOU. Ashley spends hours and hours every day answering questions in Google’s Webmaster Forum - for free. She’s been doing it for years. Her only reason is that she has a ton of useful knowledge that she can share with others which will improve their life. THAT’s someone I want to work closer with.
- 17. In baseball thereis a Sabermetric statistic called WAR. WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. What it attempts to measure is how many wins that player personally added as compared to a “replacement” player. sabermetrics and Wins Above Replacement
- 18. So if the1923 Yankees had to call up a guy from AAA instead of having Babe Ruth, what would have been the impact? According to the stats, Babe Ruth added 14 wins to the 1923 Yankees. That’s pretty darn impressive. Every team wanted Babe Ruth. 14 wins is often the difference between 1st place and 3rd or 4th place.
- 19. Being part ofa fast-growing company, we’re always looking for Babe Ruth or Don Draper or Tom Brady… in search of Babe Ruth or Don Draper or Tom Brady
- 20. The problem isthat everyone looks good on paper… There’s no Marketing Combine to put a social media manager through. candidates
- 21. At lunch, we’retalking about you… “Hey Karl, who’s the best project manager you know?” not so secret
- 22. The most powerfulquestion I ask is the simplest. If you were going out on your own and you could reach back over your professional life and take one person with you who would it be? How is that one person who you’re sure could help you succeed? who is your one?
- 23. Your “one” maynot be known outside that company. They are probably not actively looking because they’re focused on doing great work. the power of one
- 24. Tom Brady atthe 2000 NFL scouting combine. He was ultimately picked in the 6th round, the 199th pick overall – behind 6 other quarterbacks. Brady set the record for "slowest quarterback time" ever electronically recorded at the league's prestigious (and overhyped) evaluation event. The four time Super Bowl winner ran 40 yards in a ponderous time of 5.28 seconds. identification Tom Brady at the 2000 NFL scouting combine
- 25. Tom Brady hascertainly made a dent in the NFL – he’s the Patriot’s Babe Ruth. success
- 26. How do weget to that podium of success? It starts with knowing yourself and knowing where you’ll thrive. “In the military we give medals to people who are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others may gain. In business we give bonuses to people who are willing to sacrifice others so that we may gain. We have it backwards. Wouldn't you like to work in an organization in which you have the absolute confidence and the absolute knowledge that other people, that you may or may not know, who work in the same organization as you would be willing to sacrifice themselves so you can survive? I'm not even talking about giving up your life - we don't even like to give up credit.” – Simon Sinek
- 27.
- 28. Iris feels likeshe’s doing meaningful work Helping PrecisionLender grow, helping our customers become better bankers, make smarter loans and help grow the businesses in their communities.
- 29. Iris feels likeshe’s surrounded by smart co-workers Iris is expected to keep up with discussions about banking, commercial lending, video production, API construction, book publishing, HTML5, javascript frameworks, nurture campaigns, podcasts and more. Since Iris is super smart, why would we expect anything different?
- 30. Iris is designingher first book cover, she’s also designing her 3rd website in 6 months, working closely with the development team acting as a defacto UX and UI ninja. She also been tasked with building out an in-house photo and recording studio – almost none of this was in the job description of her job, it didn’t need to be – when you hire amazing people they see things that need doing and then do them. Iris doesn’t need a task list left on her desk, she’s writing the map as she goes. Iris feels like she’s challenged
- 31. Within a weekof starting Iris was interviewing people, because as part of the team she has as much say as anyone else. She also ordered thousands of dollars worth of equipment for the studio. Major initiatives get handed off to her as if she’s been here since day 1. When you hire the best people, there’s no reason to limit them. Iris feels like she’s trusted
- 32. Sitting around thetable in her first week, Iris knew that she could voice her opinion openly and directly. Telling the team all the ways to get better from her fresh perspective helped everyone. That only happens when you feel like everyone is together – it’s not us against them, it’s just us. Iris feels safe
- 33. Know what’s importantto YOU! Think about what you value. What are the things you would whisper in the ear of a child to help them grow up smart and confident? Your values are not actions, but are defined by your actions.
- 34.
- 35. Know what’s importantto your company! Make sure that the things YOU value line up with the things your company values. If they don’t, you’ll never thrive there. You’ll never do the meaningful work you need to do to feel complete. our values
- 36. Make sure yourvalues align COMPANY VALUES YOUR VALUES
- 37. Make sure yourvalues align OUR VALUES
- 38. It took mea long time to realize what was important professionally. Did anyone ever say to you, “You will become the average of your 5 closest friends?” – The same is true of you professionally. If you’re surrounded by clock watching slackers, you will become that as well. If your surrounded by amazing, generous, smart people – you will become that. So if you’re currently somewhere where your boss forces a list on you - figure out a way to start working beyond that list. Start thinking for yourself. Imagine how much easier your boss’s life would be if she didn’t need to worry about spoon-feeding you your tasks. Is it time to change? 𝑣 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒 = 2𝐺𝑀 𝑅
- 39.
Editor's Notes
- #3 Raise your hand if you’re a “knowledge worker”? In 1959, Knowledge Workers were silo’d into a management track where they became better and better in their hyper-narrowed skill sets. 1959 – that’s 56 years ago. That’s last century. That’s last MILLENIUM!
- #4 50 years after Drucker we have what Google calls, “smart creatives”.
- #5 Smart Creatives don’t keep quiet when they disagree, they get bored easily, they’re multi-dimensional, combining technical know-how with business acumen.
- #6 5 simple questions
- #12 If you didn’t score a 5 today, it’s time to start doing things differently. You’re going to have to find a situation where you can score a perfect 5.
- #14 Future Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz brings value by hitting clutch home runs for the Red Sox in the post-season in the most dramatic fashion. This gif shows Ortiz’s ONLY HIT in the American League championship series – a grand slam homerun in bottom of the 8th inning to ties the game. David Ortiz also plays first base, but that’s not where his greatest value is.
- #15 The word practice has a slightly different definition than most people think. It’s not just swinging a baseball bat in the backyard - it’s about a concerted effort to improve. What that means to software engineer is “show me the stuff you’re working on in your free time”. Tell me the story about the weekend you stayed up 36 hours to figure something out. If you’re not working on some kind of moonshot, then you’re not challenging yourself. GIF is the MIT mechanical cheetah jumping over obstacles with only about 1 meter in which to figure out what to do.
- #16 That doesn’t mean you speak at 100 events a year, it means your peer group know of you as a leader. You don’t need a certain title to be a leader - but you do need to stand out in front, and inspire people to follow you. That can happen in many ways, but you have to make a real dent. By “dent”, I mean - you have to be noticed. Maybe you have your graphic design stuff featured on Dribble or your code is popular on Github or your posts on Medium get a zillion comments. People respect your work.
- #17 BONUS – Give it away. Make a habit of taking everything you know, everything you’ve learned and all your crazy ideas of what’s coming in the future and share them liberally. When people ask you for help with something… help them. For free! Help them because you’re amazing at something and they want to learn. Stop worrying about “should I be getting paid for this?” I love something my friend Ashley Berman Hale told me one day after she moved out to Colorado, “The more I help people for free, the more people want to hire me.” It sounds crazy at first, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you spend an hour with someone and they fall over backwards watching your magic, they’re not going to want to do it themselves, they’re going to want the master magician! They want YOU. Ashley spends hours and hours every day answering questions in Google’s Webmaster Forum - for free. She’s been doing it for years. Her only reason is that she has a ton of useful knowledge that she can share with others which will improve their life. THAT’s someone I want to work closer with.
- #18 In baseball there is a Sabermetric statistic called WAR. WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. What it attempts to measure is how many wins that player personally added as compared to a “replacement” player.
- #19 So if the 1923 Yankees had to call up a guy from AAA instead of having Babe Ruth, what would have been the impact? According to the stats, Babe Ruth added 14 wins to the 1923 Yankees. That’s pretty darn impressive. Every team wanted Babe Ruth. 14 wins is often the difference between 1st place and 3rd or 4th place.
- #20 Being part of a fast-growing company, we’re always looking for Babe Ruth or Don Draper or Tom Brady…
- #21 The problem is that everyone looks good on paper… There’s no Marketing Combine to put a social media manager through.
- #22 At lunch, we’re talking about you… “Hey Karl, who’s the best project manager you know?”
- #23 The most powerful question I ask is the simplest. If you were going out on your own and you could reach back over your professional life and take one person with you who would it be? How is that one person who you’re sure could help you succeed?
- #24 Your “one” may not be known outside that company. They are probably not actively looking because they’re focused on doing great work.
- #25 Tom Brady at the 2000 NFL scouting combine. He was ultimately picked in the 6th round, the 199th pick overall – behind 6 other quarterbacks. Brady set the record for "slowest quarterback time" ever electronically recorded at the league's prestigious (and overhyped) evaluation event. The four time Super Bowl winner ran 40 yards in a ponderous time of 5.28 seconds.
- #26 Tom Brady has certainly made a dent in the NFL – he’s the Patriot’s Babe Ruth.
- #27 How do we get to that podium of success? It starts with knowing yourself and knowing where you’ll thrive.
- #28 Iris Maslow
- #29 Helping PrecisionLender grow, helping our customers become better bankers, make smarter loans and help grow the businesses in their communities.
- #30 Iris is expected to keep up with discussions about banking, commercial lending, video production, API construction, book publishing, HTML5, javascript frameworks, nurture campaigns, podcasts and more. Since Iris is super smart, why would we expect anything different?
- #31 Iris is designing her first book cover, she’s also designing her 3rd website in 6 months, working closely with the development team acting as a defacto UX and UI ninja. She also been tasked with building out an in-house photo and recording studio – almost none of this was in the job description of her job, it didn’t need to be – when you hire amazing people they see things that need doing and then do them. Iris doesn’t need a task list left on her desk, she’s writing the map as she goes.
- #32 Within a week of starting Iris was interviewing people, because as part of the team she has as much say as anyone else. She also ordered thousands of dollars worth of equipment for the studio. Major initiatives get handed off to her as if she’s been here since day 1. When you hire the best people, there’s no reason to limit them.
- #33 Sitting around the table in her first week, Iris knew that she could voice her opinion openly and directly. Telling the team all the ways to get better from her fresh perspective helped everyone. That only happens when you feel like everyone is together – it’s not us against them, it’s just us.
- #34 Know what’s important to YOU! Think about what you value. What are the things you would whisper in the ear of a child to help them grow up smart and confident? Your values are not actions, but are defined by your actions.
- #36 Know what’s important to your company! Make sure that the things YOU value line up with the things your company values. If they don’t, you’ll never thrive there. You’ll never do the meaningful work you need to do to feel complete.
- #37 Make sure your values align
- #38 Make sure your values align
- #39 It took me a long time to realize what was important professionally. Did anyone ever say to you, “You will become the average of your 5 closest friends?” – The same is true of you professionally. If you’re surrounded by clock watching slackers, you will become that as well. If your surrounded by amazing, generous, smart people – you will become that. So if you’re currently somewhere where your boss forces a list on you - figure out a way to start working beyond that list. Start thinking for yourself. Imagine how much easier your boss’s life would be if she didn’t need to worry about spoon-feeding you your tasks. If you’re the one spoon-feeding someone, stop. Give them the freedom to thrive. If they don’t thrive, you’ve made a bad hire. I won’t stop talking about the dreaded “bozo explosion”, but feel free to Google that term. The equation at the bottom is how to calculate escape velocity.