How to track your growth as an engineer
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Friday, a few weeks ago.
We just had a crazy week with lots of workshops with coworkers from outside the city.
Yet I felt very unaccomplished.
I looked at my metrics to know why.
Yes, my metrics.
Because I track things.
In this post, you’ll learn:
How to write crisp Objectives.
How to break them down into measurable milestones you control.
How to create stretch situations out of your comfort zone.
What I found after looking at my metrics that Friday.
1. The three opinions about metrics.
Carpe Diem.
I don’t track or plan anything. Life is to live it.
You are going blind. You don’t even have your hands on the wheel, someone else will direct your life for you.
Numbers, numbers everywhere
I track everything in my life. I got access to the most absurd data.
You are wasting time on things without value.
Someone who subscribes to Strategize Your Career
I track what I want to make progress on.
You are smart. You strategize only what matters, focusing your efforts on the actions that bring the most results.
2. Metrics and OKRs
A metric is just data. An indication. It’s not good or bad by itself.
We interpret it based on a target value.
I like using OKRs as a structured process of setting these target values:
The Objective (O) is what sets a direction for your life and career. It’s aggressive, yet realistic.
The Key Results (KR) are the milestones for completion.
A rule of thumb is to make triads of [metric, target value, date of completion] for KRs.
Objective: Expand the reach and quality of my newsletter
KR1: “Read and take notes on 10 books by the end of the quarter”
KR2: “Publish 2 collaborative posts by the end of the quarter”
KR3: “Interact with 10 posts every week, for 10 out of 12 weeks”
Notice here:
The objective starts with a verb with clear intention. It’s not “try to”, “help”, or “participate”.
Each KR sets a target for a metric. I can know if I completed 100%, 50% or 0%. Never treat your metrics as something binary. 99% and 0% are both “not completed”, but they are not the same.
There are 2 maxims you have to respect to make this work:
Make sure the completion of all KRs of the objective completes the objective. If it doesn’t, find the proper KRs or adjust the objective.
Make sure it’s clear when the KR is completed. It shouldn’t be up to opinion.