Another comment point out: "For a very specific definition of “success.”". Some might read the article as "this is how you make a lot of money". I read it as how to be appreciated/valued/be indispensable. Neither is necessarily wrong, but you correct that if you goal is to be richer, monetarily, then the setting in which you apply these advise will make a large difference.
In a corporate setting, the advice on: Get good at sales, Be hard to compete with and Build a network, will get you much further than working hard. Working hard in large corporation will in many case only grind you down, if don't manage to make your work visible. It's not only in the US, other countries don't view working hard so favorably anymore, and I think it's due to it being tied more directly to stress, rather than success. Hard work alone will make a person stressed, but does not guarantee success, selling yourself and networking will be much more likely to result in success if applied alone.
Overall it is good advice, as a whole, perhaps more so if just want be happy in you profession, feel secure and have a sense of belonging.
>In a corporate setting, the advice on: Get good at sales, Be hard to compete with and Build a network, will get you much further than working hard. Working hard in large corporation will in many case only grind you down, if don't manage to make your work visible. It's not only in the US, other countries don't view working hard so favorably anymore, and I think it's due to it being tied more directly to stress, rather than success. Hard work alone will make a person stressed, but does not guarantee success, selling yourself and networking will be much more likely to result in success if applied alone.
>Overall it is good advice, as a whole, perhaps more so if just want be happy in you profession, feel secure and have a sense of belonging.
Something is missing in that formula because this is exactly why we have the toxic culture we have in a big corp today killing creativity, promotion first attitude, and all kinds of politics. It's pretty screwed up. People are not robots. I hate these pieces of advice that treat people as soldiers with no emotions. If you want to go A you have to do B. then it will work. Yeah right...
Not sure why you are getting downvotes, this is a sound take.
I'll springboard off it: what are some good ways to network? I'm 40 and have been ignoring these skills for too long, opting for the "hard work" path, and seeing the limits of that. Confs? Open source? Talks? Twitter (please no)?
Honestly I just like talking to people, so I automatically build a network.
The best why however seems to be helpful. Solving a minor issue for someone in accounting may seem like nothing, but it’s important to them and they will remember you.
networking to consciously grow your network is about as useful as growing your followers so... you have a lot of followers.
What can you offer? what do you want to share? what are your passions? What brings you great joy?
Define some of these and then look for people who share your values. "do things that don't scale" as in find a handful of people and reach out directly. small focused networks are superior to large dispersed networks
In a corporate setting, the advice on: Get good at sales, Be hard to compete with and Build a network, will get you much further than working hard. Working hard in large corporation will in many case only grind you down, if don't manage to make your work visible. It's not only in the US, other countries don't view working hard so favorably anymore, and I think it's due to it being tied more directly to stress, rather than success. Hard work alone will make a person stressed, but does not guarantee success, selling yourself and networking will be much more likely to result in success if applied alone.
Overall it is good advice, as a whole, perhaps more so if just want be happy in you profession, feel secure and have a sense of belonging.