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Writer's pictureTim Burns

Personal Core Work Values


My Zoom Background: A selfie from a beautiful day with my daughter


Work is a changing process. I have new tasks, colleagues, relationships, and challenges every day. I often try new techniques, solve problems, or adopt new technologies. My first solution is usually a little ugly, especially if I have to learn something new or try a technique outside my comfort zone. I embrace changing my work.


I work with real people; some are great, and others are not. It's my job to adapt. I've never been able to think quickly on my feet. I need to sit on a solution and apply some thought to do my best. As I adapt to change, I use personal core values to decide how to address that change.


Most companies have core values. Sometimes, they make sense to me; sometimes, they don't. My core values don't need to reflect my current company's values. Sometimes, I might find and use another company's values I like better. At the end of the day, I will use my own.


A while back, I had the goal of working for AWS, and I adopted those values in hopes that during the interview, I could shine and get the job. I had several interviews and was always rejected, and I don't regret it. I've looked at where AWS has gone in the past few years, and they're no longer innovators. A company needs more than a good set of core values to succeed.


Every company combines the virtues and sins of its founders and the decisions made in the past. I was fortunate to work for 16 years at an engineer-founded company. I was one of the core developers and managers who built that company. At that company, I learned many lessons about managing data at scale. I also learned that a specific language like Java on a database like Oracle can be a trap. Stability can also be an illusion.


Now, I find myself needing to refresh my work values. I can't know the outcome of everything I do, but I can at least hope to apply a consistent process to my behavior and decisions.


Here are the few I've borrowed from AWS that apply to writing and maintaining a codebase.


  • Bias for Action. Embrace less-than-perfect solutions that can be changed easily

  • Earn Trust. I only make promises I can keep; I communicate with empathy as often as possible. I'm not perfect at this and can sometimes come off as dismissive. When it comes to my promises, I try to under-promise and over-deliver.

  • Invent, then Simplify. I always make time to go back and simplify my code, even against pushback. When it's my code, I decide the how, and the how will always be the simplest I can do.


Here are a few of my own that I use to work on a team.


  • Don't get Caught up in False Urgency. I've had colleagues who made their careers out of inventing urgent problems and working overtime to solve them. I keep perspective. Recognize when this is happening and prevent or at least not join it.

  • Don't Know Mind. I must remind myself that I don't know the whole story or goal. I must be content with incomplete knowledge and believe I will understand as time unfolds.


Regarding standards of integrity, I use this quote from Robert Mueller, who gave my nephew's graduation speech.


  • If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.


At this crossroads, where I am making consequential decisions that will affect my future, I can only look to these principles as my guide. Knowing who I am and what I believe is something I can achieve, and as long as I am doing my best, I can be satisfied with the knowledge that I've given everything my best.


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