The Dilemna

What does it take to be the best at what you do? Does it mean covering all weaknesses, not letting anyone see you bleed and never letting anything bring you down? Or, maybe it’s focusing on what you’re really good at, excelling beyond all doubt at it and letting your weak spots just be that - weak spots. This post is an argument for the latter.

We always fear that our slight insecurity or lack of knowledge in a specific area will be our downfall. This is just a distraction that we create in our own minds. Look to some of the most successful folks in the world. These people might be the happiest, richest, prettiest, etc. The point is to look to the people that you think are successful and think about why. You only think about the areas in which they’re successful. It never comes to mind to think about what Steve Jobs or Bill Gates are lacking.

We probably wouldn’t even know about Job’s contentious relationships or Gate’s anti-social tendencies growing up if they weren’t so famous that books and TV shows were released about them.

Now imagine how others perceive you from a 3rd person point of view. How many people know that you’re horrible at frontend or that DevOps is just a foreign language to you? That number is so miniscule. Now think of the people that know that you are excellent in a specific area - backend, leadership, maybe even frontend - I bet that number is much greater than the folks who even know, much less even care about your flaws.

How does this apply to my career

The most important skill that comes from my high school debate coach (a carbon copy of Colonel Sanders) was, “go for what you’re winning.” In the realm of debate, you maybe have five or six argument you’re running at a time. Of those, you only need to win enough for the judge to decide that you have the more compelling argument - it’s very difficult to do more than that anyways as there is not enough time. Sometimes, just winning the one argument is enough to repudiate all points your opponents may have.

At work, you only need to focus on the few things that will help you grow and take it to the next level. If you excel at technical architecture, make that your focus. If you find the most satisfaction in growing those around you, make that your primary goal. Build your plan of action around what you find the most value in and what you excel at the most. Your weaknesses will be overlooked if you are the authority in your strengths. So put in your 10,000 hours and don’t sweat the little stuff.