Just do the work

As a manager, I’ve frequently had conversations with team members about how they can get that promotion they’re after, and as a colleague or friend I’ve also been asked quite often for advice on breaking into the tech industry or interviewing for a software job.

While there are certainly some helpful “rules of thumb,” the best advice that I can give anyone is “just do the work.”

That might sound trite, and it is, but it’s still true. If you don’t want to listen to me, take the advice of two world-renowned comedians and one computer science professor with a Ph.D. from MIT.

My core conceit here is that there are no “back doors,” no “shortcuts” to be had on the path toward recognition and achievement. You may see others who apparently benefit from a rare alignment of the stars, and your observation may be accurate, but I guarantee that there was deliberate and persistent work involved.

Sometimes, especially in matters of promotion, the only “trick” (if you want to call it that) is knowing what to deliberately and persistently work on.

But what do comedians know about work?

There are only a few comedians who are truly household names, and even fewer who have remained so well-known for decades while still living. One of those people is Jerry Seinfeld, the titular creator and star of the hit series “Seinfeld.”

Seinfeld has a lot to say about work, and much of his advice is pretty solid, but I really liked this story that Ryan Holiday (of Daily Stoic fame) dug up:

A young comedian approached Jerry Seinfeld in a club one night and asked him for advice about marketing and getting exposure.

Exposure? Marketing? Seinfeld asks. Seinfeld, a pure stand-up, a comedian’s comedian, is appalled by the question. It’s offensive to his legendary heads-down work ethic. But to the kid, this was a surprise. Isn’t that the kind of question you’re supposed to ask? Isn’t that how you get ahead?

Just work on your act, Seinfeld said.

Seinfeld’s “legendary heads-down work ethic” is illustrated by some of his other advice, such as “find the torture you’re comfortable with,” which acknowledges that doing the work that helps you to grow isn’t always pleasant. “You don’t wanna wake up early, you don’t wanna get dressed, you don’t want to go to work, but once you’re there, it’s okay,” he writes, “Once you get going, it’s fine. That’s life. You master that and you’ve mastered life.”

I did say “two comedians,” though, didn’t I?

The second comedian who is renowned for his skill and has something to say about how to achieve great things is Steve Martin. In his biography, he shares what he calls “The Steve Martin Method for dominating your field,” which is this one simple thing: be so good, they can’t ignore you.

Advice so good, it transcends industries

The Steve Martin Method for dominating your field really struck a chord with Georgetown University associate professor of computer science Cal Newport, who went on to write an entire book by that name: So Good They Can’t Ignore You.

The thesis of Newport’s book is mainly that young people receive too much advice to follow their passions in the hopes that a sustainable career will materialize, and that a more certain path toward success is to identify an innate strength that you have and work on it deliberately until you’re exceptional at it.

Of course, it helps if such a strength is also rare, or in high demand, etc., but the key message (in my estimation) is that deliberate focus on building skills will have a more predictable payoff than following a passion in which you may not have talent or which may not be marketable.

OK that’s great, but what should you do?

Even if you take all of the advice above, you may still find yourself “treading water” on your career path if you “get comfortable with torture” and sustain deliberate efforts on the wrong things.

To figure out what to focus on and what skills to hone, you’ll need to take a step back and look at where you want to be five years from now. If you are an IC and you wish to be a manager, you should work on building your management skills. If you are an IC and you want to be promoted, you should figure out what skills would make you stand out among your future peers in the role that you want to have.

If you close your eyes and try to imagine yourself in five years from now and nothing clear and decisive pops up for you, you might benefit from coaching.

Once you know where you want to be, Cal Newport suggests adopting the craftsman mindset, which focuses on quality and what you can bring to the job.

When you are in the craftsman mindset, you aren’t distracted by your convenience or enjoyment; you are always practicing, getting out of your comfort zone, and looking for the biggest ways to contribute.

That’s a tough act to follow, but, so are Jerry Seinfeld and Steve Martin.

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