All voyages have a beginning and an end, and for me today was the end of one such journey. I first started with Trane in August of 2000. Since then, I've been involved with a number of product development efforts and eventually designed the basic software architecture used in most of the Tracer Evo embedded controls in addition to doing some R&D work on upcoming products and applied technologies. Today, however, I bid farewell to my mentor/manager and coworkers as I prepare to move on to a new and exciting opportunity at a startup in Edina called Jingit.
Why?
The obvious question is, "Why did you choose to leave?" Part of the motivation for moving on was stagnation - there is only so much software technology involved with running a commercial building's HVAC system (but a lot more than you might expect). When the opportunity came to move into a position at a much smaller, but more agile organization that is making use of mobile, social media, and other current technology trends, I decided that this would be a good move. 
While I took a fairly significant "haircut" in salary, I'm ok with that. For me, happiness doesn't come from the amount on the paycheck. Sure, it matters to a certain point, but day-in and day-out I am more engaged and motivated by challenges and the opportunity to help "put a dent in the universe". And while some folks point out that a startup is less stable than a large company, I can't say a large company doesn't have it's share of layoffs, outsourcing, facility closings, and so on. In the end, it was Jingit's value statement and leadership, in addition to the concept, that I found particularly engaging. The basic idea is that a team of highly capable people combined with a fairly small set of rules and processes can produce excellent work at a lower cost more quickly than is typically done at a larger organization. This will be an exciting change and a challenge at the same time. It's exciting because given the team of people I'll be working with, I firmly believe that what took months to accomplish previously can be accomplished in weeks. It's a challenge because what would have taken months previously must be done in a much shorter time. That's the excitement and challenge of working at a startup. I think Jingit has some excellent folks and a great vision accompanied by a realistic plan to get there, and I don't think I've been this excited about starting a new position since ... well ... ever. Check it out at www.jingit.com. Looking Back
There's a certain amount of melancholy that goes along with this move - some of the brightest people I've had the opportunity to work with along with the best manager I have ever had have been at Trane. I really value the time I spent at Trane and am grateful for the things they taught / re-taught me:
- Leaders innovate change. Managers copy success. The roles are not interchangeable, and finding the right mix is key.
- Sometimes, it's more valuable to help a team fail faster than to try and convince them about how to do something differently. This allows everyone involved to internalize "the wrong way" of doing things and therefore builds the notion of "we won't make that mistake again" in the group's collective knowledge base.
- Working on "the project from hell" and succeeding really polishes a development team - it's the whole "shared adversity" thing. I know of no team-building substitute which is as effective.
- You can't be a prophet in your own village. Know when to seek others' help on getting a particular message across.
- Avoid those who believe process solves all problems. As Phillip Su wrote, "Don't fear process. Fear bad people dictating process. Fear process trying to make up for bad people".
- "Visibility" is often identified as the thing needed for advancement. I don't agree - I think visibility is a byproduct of innovative and excellent work. If you produce innovative and excellent work, you will naturally advance within an organization.
- Forced collaboration is a harbinger of doom, but organic collaboration is simply delightful. The capabilities of a team whose members collaborate organically aren't added together, they are multiplied.
- Analysis paralysis is death - bias must be towards action. At the end of the day, the team must ship a product.
- Don't sweat the mistakes, learn from them. If you aren't making mistakes, you probably aren't making anything.
- A company can espouse ethics, integrity, quality, etc. all they want, but who is placed into leadership positions and how projects are run will reflect the actual value system of an organization.
- Nobody is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. Matching someone's capability to a need is a win for everyone and brings great satisfaction to all involved.
- The best technical ideas often come not from a leadership-directed investigation, but from someone who is engaged and asks, "What if...". The best managers are those who allow you ask the "What if..." questions and then constructively challenge you on your answers.
I'm really excited about what the next page of my career might bring and the things I will learn from my new coworkers! What have you learned from your coworkers recently?
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