How I Constantly Stay In "Beta"

I'm always skeptical of quotes and their authenticity. Did <insert famous person> really say that? Is it possible that it was paraphrased? Even if the source of the quotes may are dubious - some of them are gold.

"If I had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the ax." - Abraham Lincoln

Now whether or not he spoke those words is not important for this article. I'm a big fan of this quote mostly because it encourages us to take time to better ourselves before we set out to accomplish things.

Self-development.

Let that sink in for a bit. Take the time to develop yourself. Seems impossible, doesn't it? If you're like me - you may even feel a bit guilty for the selfish thought.

But the truth is that most of us pay very little attention to our own needs especially when it comes to personal development in our career. My "pleaser" personality almost guarantees that I'll go out of my way to ensure that others feel that I'm invested in their needs. But this leaves very little investment in ourselves and could be a danger zone for burnout or worse - a stale or flatlined career. Your product to the market, the combination of your hard and soft skills, requires development no differently than any company's product.

Fortunately for me, I've always had a curious mind - one that constantly tries to learn and understand the world around it. And while my childhood was filled with opportunities to grow addicted to the curiosity and marvel of the world, something happened as I become an adult. Learning and development required a lot of effort and discipline.

Over the years, I've come to accept the idea that my career and my self-development would always be in beta.

Think about the word beta for a minute. "The unfinished version of something - released to a select group of people for the process of correcting mistakes and making it better." Seems like a perfect way to describe the journey of constant self-improvement. If you can accept that you're always learning, improving, course correcting and challenging your assumptions - perhaps you too can live in constant beta.

One of the questions I get asked a lot by peers, partners or clients is '...how do you constantly keep up with today's technology and more importantly keep your skills razor sharp?' I find that there is a balance of different types of tools, information and people that all come together to provide me with an environment where I'm constantly evolving.

Disclaimer: These are things that I've found work for me given my commitments and responsibilities. It's not a recipe that will work for everyone. Reader's discretion advised.

People

The single most important way to develop is through people. We can read, watch, listen and do all sorts of self-paced learning - but I'm confident that the social nature of our species makes learning from others the most impactful. My network continues to be one of my most valuable assets for learning. With so many different types of people to learn from and limited amounts of time - you must prioritize your interactions. I spend most of my quality development time with mentors, peers and clients.

For me it starts with strong mentors. Mentors or coaches are valuable investors (your senior beta testers) who offer you the benefit of their experiences and the wisdom they've garnered from them. They help you to look ahead, strategize, avoid pitfalls and are some of the best soundboards for advice on your development journey. Keep your mind open if you're looking for one and don't limit yourself to people who are directly related to your line of work. You might be surprised how much you have to learn from people regardless of their career or background. Careers don't require mentors - but if you find the right one(s) they are invaluable.

With the amount of time that we spend at work, it would seem wasteful to not take advantage of the relationships with your peers. These people will likely know the most about you and where your soft and hard skills may need work. I spend ample time making sure that my perspective on technology is grounded by collaborating with peers, challenging them and having them reciprocate. As a trusted source, the true gold that peers often provide is honest feedback. Although these can be the hardest words for us to hear they can also be the most impactful. Utilize your peers in an effort to enhance your soft skills; presenting, public speaking, listening, handling conflict, reading body language and a host of other things.

Last - but certainly not least - I recommend spending time with your "customers". I say "customers" in the sense of those people that you serve in your career - whether it's a client, another department, another part of your company or another company altogether. If you're doing it right - and hopefully you are - the people you serve are strongly aligned to "why" you're in that particular career. Spending time with them provides an avenue of learning that can reinforce, expand and transform your career. Take the time to understand what is important to them and how you might be able to meet their needs.

The last comment I'd like to make about spending time with people is be human. To be human is to interact with people live and in-person. Don't be tempted to use technology as your only mechanism of building those relationships. Technology cannot recreate the energy, body language and intimacy of in-person interactions. Remember - the goal is to continually be in beta so we need these feedback loops to be strong. The methods that I discuss in the next sections are beneficial - but should not be used to replace personal interaction. Again - my method is a healthy balance of these things.

Technical Blogs / News Sites

With a solid network in place - the next focus area is on gathering and analyzing information. Thankfully there is no shortage of information in our digital world. Quite the opposite. Your challenge will be to wade through the overabundance of information.

I like the personal nature of blogs; people spending their time writing about things they are interested in or passionate about. The nature of blogs makes it easier to relate to the author and you'll find that your interactions can be more personal. For example - let's say that you're interested in startups or the venture community. You may find yourself reading from some of the regular writers on the TechCrunch blog. Take time and look for leaders in your field who are doing great things to educate and promote ideas in the community. Don't be afraid to get involved in the conversation either. A lot of the best ideas are shared on the comment threads.

News sites can be a good way to stay current on the latest trends, market movements and events that may be happening. News sites can be tricky however, because there may be an underlying influence from businesses or politics that could impact what news is presented. My idea here is to get a sense of what's happening from many different points of view. I'm trying to spot a trend or theme within the information and not necessarily accept only one view point. One good approach I've found is to compare information from inside of the U.S. with what people are seeing across the globe. The end result of our beta work is much stronger when we have several viewpoints looking at it.

Technical Meetings / Conferences

If you're starting to see a theme that most of these involve different avenues to interact with people - you're catching on. Technical meetings may be things like Meetups or Tech Groups that occur around where you live. There's tremendous power in a group of people who share a common purpose for gathering and I've participated in some very exception discussions at them. A secondary benefit of this is the obvious forum for networking with people.

Conferences are interesting, specifically in the tech industry. Getting a lot of value out of tech conferences requires some focus and discipline. I do three things for every conference that I attend. 1) Identify people that I'd love to network with. 2) Identify 2-3 topics that I am interested in learning about. 3) Try to find the bigger picture or macro trend that answers the question "why". If these three things come together - I know development is happening and I feel it's been a good use of my time.

Social Media

I spend a reasonable amount of time combing social media for interesting opinions and perspectives. Tools like Twitter provide access to information at near real-time and offers the sort of reach for people to interact like we've never before seen. I have several predefined searches that filter out Tweets that I may find interesting based on keywords. My news feed is comprised of the dozens of thought leaders that I follow and in just a few minutes, I can absorb a lot of information and participate in numerous discussions.

Other tools like LinkedIn offer even more access to people, ideas and information. I use LinkedIn as sort of central platform for organizing and communicating with contacts inside and outside of my network. It's much more than simply and online resume. I find new books to read, technology to look into and inspiring new leaders to check out.

YouTube / Vimeo / Etc.

If you haven't figured out, most of these tools are just different types of social networks with a difference in what type of information they share and how it's shared. YouTube and other video sites are amazing resources for learning things. The power of video in my opinion is second only to in-person interactions.

As it's impossible to be in more than one place at a time, tools like YouTube and Vimeo are my personal DVR for events that I am not been able to attend. You can find replays of nearly all tech conferences on them in addition to product demonstrations on nearly anything in the tech industry. I find that discovering new technologies is much more digestible via video where experts can explain and visualize the solutions. The next time you're curious about why blockchain is so popular, search on YouTube and you'll find several great resources explaining it.

Formal Training - Gateway of Last Resort

Sorry training partners. It's not you. It's me.

Really.

In a world where time is so valuable, the world of formal in-class training is the bottom of my list. I really do enjoy the focused energy of a week-long class with others who are passionate about learning but it's not practical for me.

As the other tools have shown, I need my information in bite sized chunks that I can consume on-demand and on my own time. Training is a great way to become skilled at a very specific topic if you're capable of the time investment. I think the training industry has taken notice of the challenges with the model and I'm hopeful that we will see innovation in this space.

Always In Beta - Conclusion

Growing and developing is a journey that requires constant change. Change is a scary thing for us but the growth happens in the uncomfortableness. It doesn't happen when we're safe and buried in routine. You must be willing to invest in others and more importantly in yourself. Self-development is important and if you're not actively pushing yourself, you may not be seeing the changes you're hoping for.

Some of the world's best software companies are ones that are always pushing the envelope. They rely on a culture of perpetual change and utilize their community to shape and refine the product. The best companies keep their software in constant beta and keep listening to feedback on making it better. Perhaps your career and your life is best served in this manner - non-stop change - constant refining - always in beta.

What other tools do you find effective in your self-development journey?