The glue and sidequests
Doing the type of work that's needed, but won't get you promoted
Why you’re getting this: This is a friend-first newsletter. Faangboss is a publication of three essential connective threads: the craft of design, the art of influence, and the journey of growth in UX. I poke at these topics, drawing from my 20+ years of launching products and mentoring designers in tech NYC.
😰I'm languishing with malaise
I'm overwhelmed and upset with new administration's policies, corporate attrition/blending/reorgs, ChatGPT replicating Studio Ghibli-style images, AI replicating websites/graphics, discussions on generalist vs specialist careers, and providing feedback at Catt Small's beta book "Staff Designer"
I don't know where or how to start complaining, but I'm impressed with Cory Booker for breaking Strom Thurmond's filibuster record for the longest complaint, speaking for 25 hours in the Senate.
Today's topic is about being "the glue" and sidequests.
Glue is the work between the work. In large corporate environments, we face challenges where we find ourselves pulling on problem threads through multiple different teams and orgs, attempting to align them without results. We burn time falling into the gaps of organizational friction, and all of this becomes what we call non-promotable sidequest work.
This concept comes contradictory to my past experiences. Being a solopreneur who takes pride in achieving goals came naturally to me and was evident in my exceeding ownership leadership skill.
However, what I failed to think about is balance. What amount of glue is going to enable collaboration between multiple teams? Do we need to use superglue or rice paste? (i.e., small vs large lift, less vs strong strength?)
How things are vs how they should be done? Projects can be blocked for known reasons AND ambiguous reasons. Attempting to understand and being aware of "why" is a survival skill.
Truth is, not all of our work is 100% promotable. This type of work won't provide the primary evidence for performance at the next level. It is secondary or even tertiary for describing the heuristics of your personality.
For example, the woman who takes notes after every meeting eventually builds a reputation that she will take care of the summarizing. Or the woman who takes care of booking reservations for group outings becomes the party planner.
I was one of those women; in fact, I was the best one. Was it good for my career? Who knows? Did it make me more popular and known to others that I wouldn't have crossed paths with on a day-to-day basis? Yes.
Not all work we do is promotable, but it does start an investment in relationships. What is really difficult to decide is when the choice is presented: "how it should be done" is the right thing to do, yet we need to shift into doing it the "wrong" way. Especially when that right thing is a high-value task for you.
It comes down to your internal barometer of right vs wrong. Are you willing to die on this hill? Is it worth the fight?
This is a hard pill to swallow. Tanya Reilly's cautionary story about what it was like for her in software engineering hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a sunken feeling for weeks.
Thoughts? Comments? Reply to this email and let me know how you think.
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Have a great week ahead,
