Build a Career That Looks Like You

Hey, what's up, it's Joe, welcome to Freestyle Friday 4 October 16th. So before I get started here, a quick announcement, putting on the practical data summit January 28th, 29th in Salt Lake City, Utah. So the idea is pretty simple. We want to get 300 really interesting people across data in AI in one room have actual conversations about what's working, what's broken, and where this industry is going. There will be no endless sales pitches, no massive expo hall, just great people, practical ideas, and hopefully a lot of fun for you. And if you're into skiing or snowboarding, definitely stick around for the weekend. We got some bust snow and mountains here in the world. So early bird tickets are available right now at practical data summit dot com. Hope to see you there. So last night, I posted on LinkedIn, which I'm prone to do sometimes, and it was about the question of career advice. So a lot of people for some weird reason asked me for a career advice. And I wrote that at least today, it is build a career based on being original and building what's interesting to you and not just copying everyone around you, differentiate, do it AI cannot. Rulebooks are being rewritten. The old guard is aging and musty. Tech sadly kills off its elders. Oh well, not your problem at least for now. They'll matter more than ever, littered on the road. And today, who cares? For now, remember that originality matters more than ever, and fundamentals still matter more than ever. That said, build what's next, enjoy it, stumble, move forward, and do what you will with this advice. So that was a post. And I've got a lot of comments, a lot of reactions that people definitely supplemented the post with their own career advice, which I think is awesome. To find anything with career advice is, it's one of those things where I think that you should take it with grain of salt, including the advice I'm giving you right now. Everyone has their own experiences, their own perceptions, their own risk tolerances, and so forth. The advice I give in this podcast and the article that I follow this weekend is simply from my own interpretation of what I observed works for me and potentially others. But I think you need to develop your own direction. And I definitely want to acknowledge what this post leaves out to. There's definitely some constraints. This post probably isn't useful for everybody. If you're struggling to make ends meet, for example, I think in terms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, your needs are just different than somebody who's maybe a bit more self-actualized and so forth. But I definitely want to protest from perspective of saying that I'm definitely in a different spot in life versus somebody who's going to be starting out or somebody who maybe got laid off and so forth. I haven't had a regular job in over a decade, so I think it's, so I'm definitely speaking from maybe an unusual place, but again, people do ask me for advice. So here goes, let's talk about the notion of copying when it helps you and when it limits you. I think reproducing good work, whatever good means, it definitely builds confidence and confidence in your ability to perform. So copying somebody else's career often means betting on circumstances that you may or may not understand. So people often ask how they can do what I do when I tell them you probably can't because I don't even know that I could replicate what I've done, right? I think a lot of it was luck, a lot of it was timing, a lot of it was obviously hard work. I'm known to be just an absolute maniac, work a whole heck, right at a very unhealthy level. I don't know that you should copy that. I think that you should do something that's appropriate for you. So, you know, but I think that what made me successful and what I do is simply just loving what I do and not treating it as work, right? Well, you know, read constantly, I, you know, work pretty much nonstop and again, I don't think that this is something you want to copy, right? So, but there are other people's whose careers, you know, at least you can emulate to some extent, pick what works and what what doesn't, I think that's a fine approach, but ultimately it's your career and you need to make the calls, right? So I think the copying piece means also you'll often get advice from people who say, you know, you need to have this career ladder and I think that that's very dangerous advice to follow a career ladder, especially now when the notion of careers is undergoing, I think a lot of turbulence and a lot of reflection is on what the nature of a career is. So, you know, it's, is this one of these things where I think you need to assess like what you're truly good at, what makes you unique, what makes you original and go that direction and, you know, obviously borrow what you can from a, you know, what people's, what makes people's career successful, what you perceive and what also what makes them fail. I remember Charlie Munger gave this commencement speech at the, I think it was Harvard School, it's like a prep school in Los Angeles, but, you know, he, his talk was really about ways to fail at life, right? I think there's often advice on how to succeed at life, but he actually inverted the topic and talked about ways you could utterly fail at life because I think it's easier to, you know, maybe pinpoint areas where you'll probably fail or die versus the, probably the infinite number of ways you can succeed, and I think this is definitely a place it careers as well. So, you know, look at what, how people fail, right or how they maybe don't reach their potential, right? And use that as, you know, potentially a, you know, warning sign for, for yourself, right? But then a lot of things happen too, right? People fail for reasons that seem obvious in the surface, but maybe there's something brewing underneath, right? It could be, you know, you know, mental issues, it could be family issues, it could be any number of things, right? So you don't have the entire context either. So I think it's, so definitely treat that, maybe from a safe distance, let's revisit the do what AI cannot do, right? So I think right now, you know, the, the models, you know, the frontier models are improving at a rapid clip. I'm, I'm using AI pretty much non-stop. I have AI running my business, and it allows me to move at a speed that I just couldn't replicate in the pre-AI days, you know, there's agents galore, but that frees me up to spend more time, one of the things I'm good at, right, which is thinking and reading and getting outside and, you know, and all that, you know, working and all this time, right? But ironically, it's like, you know, AI is doing more work, but I, that means I'm doing more work. So it hasn't really freed me up to, you know, to live a life of leisure, although I certainly do take advantage of that when I can, but it definitely means there's just more problems to solve, right? So, but, you know, if we take us back in terms of, you know, the do what AI cannot theme, like the model limitations, definitely providing an unstable basis for, for career planning, right? It's really hard to describe what a career looks like when AI is, um, definitely eroding a lot of the tasks that, you know, anyone from a junior to a senior principal level person even execs could do, right? And so, um, I think that there's definitely a need to develop expertise to know whether the AI is producing good results or not, um, and maybe that's what I would, I would say as you need to go deep into an area, really, I, some people say you don't need to be an expert in anything. I think that's complete crap. You, I think you really do need to develop a true expertise in a field. That's how you become great. You don't become great if you just have a superficial understanding, um, you know, and you're just kind of phoning it in, right? And so, this, the notion that I was talking with some people, some educators about this and they're like, well, we don't, what is even the nature of education right now? And I think, well, to me, it's about developing an expertise in something, developing a true mastery of a, of a subject, AI is simply a way to, you know, enhance those learnings hopefully, but if you're just relying on the AI to, to teach you, um, you know, there's no boundaries in terms of a linear sequence of learning, right? That's, that's one of the things I describe when I, um, I'm podcasting the article where I talk about writing books, you have a linear sequence in a foundational approach to learning. And if you're just learning random tidbits here and there, I think it, it's very difficult to master the fundamentals and move from there, right? And so, you know, I would focus on, you know, in the context of AI, you know, focusing choosing worthwhile problems to solve and accept responsibility for the outcomes, right? AI is simply a way to solve problems faster and maybe in more novel ways, but at the end of the day, we're solving problems, right? You can use your brain to solve problems too, but you need, again, using your brain to solve problems in entails that you have a sense of mastery of a, of an area, right? And of the problem space. And I also talked about originality, right? And I would say make a originality earn its place. Um, it's one of these things where I think people hear something like be original and that could mean a number of things, right? Like going out and wearing, like, you know, funny outfit or, um, you know, acting weird in front of people like that, to me is not really original, you're just kind of being annoying. So, um, you know, originality really is one of these things where it's, it's being able to express who you really are, right? And doing things that are of real interest to you and not trying to copy somebody else. Right? So interesting to you as an automatically mean useful to someone else, right? be useful to you. And I think that's ultimately what matters. What I find is interesting is people make money off of just the weirdest stuff, right? I brought the example of like professional wrestlers, you know, but that's not a career that you go to college for, right? You know, but, you know, professional athletes or, you know, food influencers or stuff, right? But this is something that people like to do. And maybe it's useful to somebody else. Maybe it's not, ultimately, if enough people catch on, and then they find that entertaining or useful, then sure, just problem solved. You've created value in the world, and maybe you can monetize it. So, you know, I would say, you know, being original also means like being reliable, right? And I think reliably executing things creates value, right? And it exposes problems worth further investigating as well. But being original also means being able to identify these types of problems from a novel way and be able to solve them a novel way. You know, so to me, that's what originality. As a guy, I think I'm original. I can't really think of anyone else who's doing what I'm doing in the world. The way I do it, I think that's awesome. You know, but then it also means like, there's one of me, right? There's not really a job description that you could find for a person, you know, like myself right now. And I think that's good. But if I ever try and look for a job, I don't even know what that would look like, right? And people offer me jobs. But they're trying to fit me into like this, you know, classic, you know, square peg round hole type thing. And I just don't think that, you know, these are types of things that I want to do right now, right? I'm Morrison just exploring the things I'm interested in. And hopefully they add value to other people. And that's why I look at my career, right? It's simply just going on these side quests and, um, you know, uncovering new insights that are, I think, interesting to me and exploring those. And I think it's a very interesting career. It's not what I expected, but this is where I am. And I love it, right? But you need to find what works for you. Um, you know, and so this is, you know, sort of the crux, right? And, and I mentioned something about the elders as well, right? The, you know, the elders are passing on and there's something I learned from Bill Edman, actually, we learn a lot of things from he's, you know, he made a point to the tech industry, it definitely does a good job, but, um, you know, taking people in, showing them up and spitting them out and forgetting about them, right? Because the whole notion of technology is about moving forward, not really remembering the past, but I think you, you do need to, um, you know, understand the history of your field, right? Understand the people who came before you. Understand what, you know, what made them interesting, what made them successful, made them fail, right? Understand the history. I think that's gives you, if you understand the history of your field and the problem space you're showing us all of it, it, you know, there's no downside to that, right? It just gives you a much deeper perspective of where you need to go and how you can contribute to, you know, the field and the problem space you're working in. So, you know, it's, again, career advice is, it's career advice, right? I think that, you know, my experience, uh, may translate to you, it may not, right? Everyone is in a different place. So, I, you know, I definitely invite you to maybe choose one small problem, right? Maybe test, you know, an approach out with it with your career and see where it goes, especially now, right? It's, I think, again, I mentioned a notion of career ladders such as they are utterly broken at this point, you know, the, the old thing was like, you know, go to college, get a white college job, work your way up the ladder, right? Nowadays, I think going to college, I wonder if you're ever going to get a job, um, might happen might not. But, you know, what you see in front of you is, is just, um, you know, people who have careers, some of them are rewarding for sure, some of them, I think a lot of people wonder like why they're doing this. Um, you know, you're competing for the next title, the next role, the next salary, the next rung on the ladder. And what I'm finding is people, or, you know, when they come to me for career advice, it tends to be more about how can I get agency and control over my life and over my destiny? I feel like there's a lot of people who don't feel like they're in control of the careers or their lives right now. And I would say that that's the experiment you should do is like, what's the area where you think you could get control, right? Over over something and expand on that, right? Um, you know, and build that mental habit over time where you do have agency over something. And then maybe that parlor is into your next act, right? And, you know, I didn't expect to be where I am. I'm totally embracing the, the, you know, this next act that I'm in and I love it. And I want to pursue this, you know, my career, I don't quite know where it goes. Um, but I know that I have a path where it's about having intellectual freedom and agency to explore the areas that I want to have control over my time. And to me, that that's all I, all I need, you know, I don't need a lot of money. Um, you know, but what I, what I do need is by time, right? So for me, the typical day is don't usually take meetings with people, unless you're paying client, there's a reason to have a meeting. Um, my perfect calendar is an empty calendar with nothing on it, right? I just, I love that. I just love having the space to think and to build all day and unencumbered by outside pressures, but that's work, work, uh, works for me for other people. You know, it doesn't work. I remember Tristan Handy, uh, was asking me, you know, kind of how I like to work. And I think I, I definitely, at least right now, I'm definitely in monk mode. So to speak where I just, I love the, um, you know, I love getting out, obviously I get out in the world a lot. I wager, I probably travel more in a, in a season, the most people doing their entire lives. So I definitely am not a stranger to getting out in the world and talking people, but when I'm back home, I definitely love, um, just solitude and having the space, um, to build and to think. So definitely monk like, but that's how it is. So, but yeah, I would say, you know, the best career advice for you is just, you know, do what feels right to you and in a way that's gonna, you know, provide for you and, you know, your family and, you know, your future and so forth. But there's not really, I would say, just the prescribed path, especially these days when everything is just up in the air right now. Um, you know, there's no corporate loyalty anymore. There's no nothing. It's, it's really on you to figure out your path. So anyway, that's the rant for today. Um, other news, uh, mixed model arts. The book is out. I published it a couple of weeks ago, actually, I was, um, in Italy of all places. I was, um, want to get teeny, uh, and then it was, um, kind of when I trained toward, he said, let's publish this thing. Cause why not do that when you're traveling, right? And all the risks involved, but did it, it's getting a lot of great reviews right now. Um, you know, you can find out Amazon, you can get the ebook directly as well. Um, I'm gonna be opening up distribution as well, pretty soon for, um, or the retail outlets. Um, but obviously, Amazon's the place where you can get it. It's like 80, 90% of book sales and leave a review for the book on Amazon and good reads a few like the book. No pressure there. We also have a book club. Uh, so we going, uh, through, you know, various chapters, through early December, each week, we meet on Wednesday. Um, the paid subscribers meet on Wednesday on a, uh, kind of a closed meeting. Um, but you can also participate in the book club in the comment section. I'll be posting a weekly article about the, uh, book club readings and discussions and so forth. So, uh, you can find out more at practical data modeling dot sub stack.com. Other, uh, events coming up, I'll be at hex prompt. Hex's event in October 27th in San Francisco. Uh, it's going to be awesome. Hex is a super cool. And if you're in the area, go check it out, right? Go to find it out more at hex.tech/prompt. And the following week, I'll be back in San Francisco at data outposts. Mother ducks, uh, really awesome data event. It needs to be called small data conference. And now it's, uh, data outposts. Again, San Francisco, November 4th and 5th, you can learn more data outposts.ai. And after that, I'll be going back across the pond to connect a data London. Um, which is like, what is it, uh, November 11th and 12th. Then, uh, the following Monday, I'll be in Paris, November 16th at forward data conference. And then later that week, I'll be in Austin, Texas at MLOPS, uh, world. And so, a lot going on. And I might actually be at re-invent as well, um, the following week. So yeah, just back to back to back to back to back to back, travel. And then taking a break because, again, got a conference coming up in my own practical data summit. So again, if you're looking for a really intimate, cool event where there's lots of skiing and snowboarding involved and the best snow on the planet, go to practical data summit.com to learn more. Um, you have to pre-read the show, which means you have to apply to attend, uh, this more, just keep the, um, you know, room quality, extremely high. And, uh, you know, just give people, I think it's just a really wonderful experience. Okay, so practical data summit.com. Anyway, signing off. Got a lot of work to do today. And, uh, yeah, hope you have a great weekend. Take care. Bye.