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An introduction
Welcome to the first addition to my personal blog. Writing a blog has been on my agenda for quite some time now. I've been eager to start documenting my thoughts and sharing them with a wider group.
I'm a Software Engineer with slightly under 7 years of experience working mostly with FinTech & Billing systems. I've been working at HubSpot for almost 4 years at this point - building out the experiences that enable customers to buy & manage HubSpot. Over the previous 1.5 years, I have been developing myself as a first-time Technical Lead, helping to build out truly autonomous teams that are focused on delivering customer value. My passions have adapted over time and I'm currently motivated by building valuable products that scale over time with great teams.
Upon initiating this post, I found myself wondering, "why is it that I'm interested in sharing my thoughts to an audience (if anyone bothers to read this)?", and I've whittled it down to two reasons so far:
- Is it even a new year if you don't pick up a new hobby that strives to help you become a better person!?
- More seriously, within the past year, amidst a pandemic, I have undergone a steep growth trajectory within my career and would like to share some insights.
I know it may seem weird that I'm mentioning a New Year's resolution in February but I often refer to myself as an imperfect perfectionist. I have dwelled on writing the first perfect post for so long and could never find the best possible message to send out there without going into too many tangents. Hence, the name of this blog post. For the tech folk reading this, you may have already pieced together that it's an adaptation for the well-known "Move Fast and Break Things" mantra that several tech companies have adopted within their Product & Engineering groups. This is my way of contributing to the message that I wish to relay now and being comfortable with iterating on that message over time.
What to expect from me
What I would really like to help deliver through the means of blogging, focusing on point number 2, is what such growth trajectories look like, and more importantly, what they do not look like.
Progression can seem quite prescriptive at times and can sound all too easy. We are often met with such growth opportunities when we are excelling in our current roles, confident & "ready" - so we transition into the new role like a steam train with all of the destinations in our line of sight. Easy.
Little do we expect, a steam train is also coming at us from the opposite direction at an even faster pace - Imposter Syndrome. I would like to deliver some of the key learnings I have gained along my journey to become a better Product Engineer. More importantly, I would like to share the experiences of my failures, times I was left feeling vulnerable and ultimately the north star I followed to get through what were some difficult growth curves.
In hindsight, the past year has moulded me into a more well-rounded product engineer and leader - but the journey to get there was an emotional rollercoaster that left me upside-down wishing to get off at many points in time (note: metaphors aside, I would be feeling the exact same on a legitimate rollercoaster - do not want).
What not to expect from me
Throughout my writings, I hope to never prescribe a solution to a given problem. I am still embarking on many of my journeys and do not have the greatest answers to the many problems that we encounter in our careers (although I will share some readings that have helped guide me through some situations). I would like to think of myself as a partner to those reading these posts, helping to clear the pathway to progression and letting you know that it's ok to stop for a flat white with oat milk along the way (a.k.a a break).
Thank you for reading.