Speedrun Your Tech Promotion

Summary

In this insightful video, Steve, an L7 Principal Engineer at Amazon, shares his personal journey and the lessons learned from multiple failed promotion attempts. He emphasizes that promotions are not merit-based but a process that can be understood and optimized. Steve advises understanding the promotion criteria, demonstrating competence at the next level, and gathering tangible evidence of one's ability to handle broader responsibilities. He also highlights the importance of concrete evidence over qualitative endorsements in the promotion process.

Takeaways

• 🎉 Promotions are not solely based on merit but are a process that can be understood and optimized.
• 🔄 Understanding the promotion process at your company is crucial for career advancement.
• 🚫 Tech promotions are anti-Peter Principle, requiring demonstration of next-level competence before promotion.
• 📈 High performance at one's current level is necessary but not sufficient for promotion.
• 📝 Gathering tangible evidence of operating at the next level is more compelling than qualitative endorsements.
• 🤔 Promotees should proactively seek to understand and adapt to changes in promotion criteria and processes.
• 👥 Networking and understanding the experiences of those who have been promoted can provide valuable insights.
• 📊 Demonstrating a broader scope of responsibilities and capabilities is key to promotion success.
• 📋 Creating a promotion packet with specific, quantifiable achievements can strengthen a promotion case.
• 🗣️ Effective feedback should highlight how an individual's contributions demonstrate readiness for the next level.
• 💡 Working backwards from desired feedback can clarify promotion goals and strategies.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial reaction to being promoted to principal engineer at Amazon?

The speaker did not feel as happy as they thought they should be, reflecting on their previous failures to be promoted over the past four years.

How many times had the speaker been put up for promotion before finally succeeding?

The speaker had been put up for promotion and failed five times over the previous four years.

What was the speaker's initial career progression like at Amazon?

The speaker started as a support engineer in 2006, moved to L4 SD1 in 2007, reached SD2 in 2009, and became a Senior SD (SD3) in 2012, indicating rapid progression initially.

What did the speaker realize after getting stuck in their career progression?

The speaker realized that they didn't know what to do to unstick themselves once they stopped progressing, highlighting the need for understanding the promotion process.

What is the first lesson the speaker learned from their frustrating experience with promotions?

The first lesson was that promotions are not a meritocracy but a process that can be broken down and optimized.

Why is it important to understand the promotion process at your company?

Understanding the promotion process is crucial because it allows you to know what steps to take and how to prepare, which can prevent setbacks due to process changes.

According to the script, what is the difference between Russell and Matt in terms of work ethic?

Russell is described as hardworking, engaging, and helpful, often working nights and weekends, while Matt has a more relaxed approach, not working extra hours and being less helpful.

Why might Matt be promoted over Russell, despite seeming less dedicated?

Matt might be promoted over Russell if he understands the promotion process at the company and optimizes his actions accordingly, whereas Russell may not be aware of the process.

What is the 'anti-Peter Principle' as it pertains to tech promotions?

The 'anti-Peter Principle' in tech promotions means that one must demonstrate competence at the next level before being promoted, rather than simply being competent at the current level.

What should Lance have done to improve his chances of promotion according to the speaker?

Lance should have taken on more than what was expected of him at his current level and provided multiple data points of operating at the next level to demonstrate his readiness for promotion.

Why is it better to provide tangible evidence of operating at the next level rather than qualitative endorsements?

Tangible evidence is more compelling and concrete, showing specific contributions and capabilities at the next level, which is more persuasive than general positive reviews.

How can one ensure they receive effective feedback for a promotion?

One can write down the type of feedback they want to elicit, operate in a way that leads to that feedback, and remind colleagues of what they witnessed when promotion time comes.

What is the 'promotion algorithm' the speaker mentions for a structured approach to promotion?

The 'promotion algorithm' is a structured approach to promotion that the speaker developed, which is explained in more detail during the 'speedrun to promotion' launch event.

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Promotion and the Struggle Behind Success

The speaker reflects on their promotion to principal engineer at Amazon in Q1 of 2020, despite feeling they should be happier, they recognize the struggle behind their success. They recount their rapid progression from a support engineer in 2006 to senior SD in 2012, but then face a series of failed promotion attempts over the next four years. The speaker emphasizes that promotions are not a meritocracy but a process that can be understood and optimized. They highlight the importance of knowing the promotion criteria and process, as well as the impact of changes in those processes on their own journey. This paragraph sets the stage for the lessons to be shared in the video.

05:02

🔍 The Illusion of Meritocracy in Promotions

This paragraph delves into the misconception that promotions are solely based on merit. The speaker uses hypothetical examples of two employees, Russell and Matt, to illustrate that working hard is not the only factor in getting promoted. Russell works tirelessly, contributing significantly to the team, while Matt has a more relaxed approach but understands the promotion process intimately. The speaker argues that promotions are a process that can be broken down and optimized, and it's crucial to understand the criteria and steps involved. They share personal experiences of how changes in the promotion process affected their career growth, emphasizing the need for proactive engagement with one's career development.

Keywords

💡Promotion

Promotion refers to the advancement of an employee to a higher position within an organization, often accompanied by increased responsibilities and status. In the video, the theme revolves around the process and experiences of seeking promotion, particularly the speaker's journey to becoming a principal engineer at Amazon. The script discusses the non-meritocratic nature of promotions and the importance of understanding the promotion process within a company.

💡Principal Engineer

A Principal Engineer is a senior technical position in many technology companies, often responsible for leading complex projects and making strategic decisions. The script's narrator was promoted to this role, and the video discusses the challenges and lessons learned from this promotion process.

💡Lockdown

Lockdown refers to the state of being confined or restricted, often due to external circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The script mentions the lockdown as the context in which the narrator received their promotion, suggesting that the situation may have affected the way colleagues reacted to the news.

💡Meritocracy

Meritocracy is a system where advancement is based on individual ability and achievement. The video challenges the idea that promotions are meritocratic, arguing that they are instead part of a structured process that can be understood and optimized.

💡Process Optimization

Process optimization involves improving a system or process to make it more efficient or effective. The script suggests that understanding and optimizing the promotion process is key to career advancement, contrasting with the idea of promotions being solely based on merit.

💡Senior Software Developer (SD)

Senior Software Developer, often abbreviated as SD, is a job title that denotes a higher level of experience and responsibility within software development roles. The script describes the narrator's progression through various SD levels before reaching the principal engineer position.

💡Feedback

Feedback in a professional context refers to the evaluative comments or assessments given by peers or superiors regarding an individual's performance. The video emphasizes the importance of gathering tangible, next-level feedback as evidence of one's readiness for promotion.

💡Peter Principle

The Peter Principle is a concept suggesting that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their 'level of incompetence': employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent. The video contrasts this with the 'anti-Peter Principle' approach of tech promotions, where one must demonstrate competence at the next level before being promoted.

💡Tangible Evidence

Tangible evidence refers to concrete, observable proof or documentation. The script advises gathering such evidence of operating at the next level as a way to strengthen a promotion case, rather than relying solely on qualitative endorsements.

💡Scope

In the context of the video, scope refers to the breadth or extent of one's responsibilities and capabilities within a role. The video discusses the need to demonstrate a broader scope of work and understanding to be considered for promotion to a higher level.

💡Career Growth

Career growth is the progression of an individual's career through increased skill, knowledge, and responsibility. The script emphasizes that career growth is not just an outcome but also a process that individuals must actively pursue and understand to achieve.

Highlights

Promotion to Principal Engineer at Amazon was achieved after multiple failures, highlighting the importance of persistence.

The promotion announcement during lockdown led to a flood of congratulations via email and Slack.

Success in promotion did not feel as rewarding as the previous failures, indicating a complex emotional journey.

The journey from Support Engineer to Senior SD was rapid, showcasing early career progression.

The struggle to become an L7 Principal Engineer involved five unsuccessful attempts over four years.

The promotion process is not a meritocracy but a process that can be understood and optimized.

Understanding the promotion criteria and process is crucial for career advancement.

The promotion process at the company changed multiple times, affecting the candidate's ability to advance.

Tech promotions require demonstrating competence at the next level, contrary to the Peter Principle.

High performance at one's current level is not sufficient for promotion; next-level demonstration is necessary.

Gathering tangible evidence of operating at the next level is more effective than qualitative endorsements.

Providing concrete examples of contributions can make promotion feedback more compelling.

Writing the desired feedback for oneself can guide actions to elicit that feedback from others.

The video offers a structured approach to promotion, including the 'Promotion Algorithm'.

Comparing hypothetical individuals, Russell and Matt, illustrates the complexity of promotion decisions.

The story of Lance demonstrates how understanding promotion criteria can lead to success.

The video encourages viewers to register for a 'speedrun to promotion' launch event for more detailed strategies.

Transcripts

during q1 of 2020 I was promoted to

principal engineer at Amazon I received

hundreds of congratulations via email

and slack when the announcement was made

the lockdown had just started so I

suspect many more people were glued to

social media than usual but as I sat in

my makeship home office receiving these

messages I thought to myself that I

should feel happier was this it what the

people sending those messages didn't see

was that I'd been put up for promotion

and failed five times over the previous

four years My Success did not feel as

good as those five previous attempts

felt bad not by a long shot the funny

part is getting to senior SD was the

exact opposite experience I started at

Amazon as a support engineer in 2006 and

made a lateral move to L4 sd1 in

December of 2007 I got to sd2 in q1 of

2009 and made it to senior SD or sd3 in

q1 of 2012 I was flying through the

ranks and by 2016 4 years after my last

promotion I thought I was ready to

become an L7 principal engineer but it

wasn't meant to be I'd gotten pretty far

by winging it but once I got stuck I

didn't know what to do to unstick myself

in this video I'll give you three

lessons I learned from this really

frustrating experience I hope you can

just skip past these difficult bits if

you're new to the channel welcome my

name is Steve meta Scuba Steve or as my

wife likes to call me Steve and I'm an

L7 principal engineer on this channel we

take a structured and Engineering

approach to your life and career before

I get into my first lesson let's compare

two hypothetical people Russell isn't

afraid to work nights and weekends when

called upon actually he's usually

working nights because he finds work

really engaging nobody's checked in more

code or squashed more bugs than he has

he jumps at the chance to help others on

board and is super helpful with code

review comments helping others get

better themselves and russle is awesome

to work with on the other end of the

spectrum is Matt he rolls into the

office whenever he wakes up which may or

may not be in time for standup he never

works nights or weekends and stops

working at 5:00 p.m every day but

sometimes that's closer to 3 Matt checks

in an average amount of code and solves

an average amount of bugs he helps

people only when he has to and to be

quite honest he's a bit of a jerk when

people do ask for help between Russell

and Matt who's going to get promoted

first on the surface it seems like

Russell is going above and beyond so it

must be him but what if I told you that

Matt knew intimately the details of the

promotion process at their company while

Russell didn't and he was just hoping

that his performance was going to be

noticed well then I'd switch and say

that it's hard to know who was going to

get promoted first despite the fact that

Matt doesn't seem to be performing very

well and Russell is killing it this is

my first point which is that promotions

aren't a meritocracy they're a process

and just like any process they aren't

perfect but they can also be broken down

and optimized for many companies publish

their promotion criteria and processes

but even if your company doesn't if

you'd like to get promoted the first

step is to understand what that process

is you can do this by asking your

manager co-workers that got promoted in

the past or your HR business partner you

can't beat a game if you don't know what

the wi conditions are during the four

years when I was trying to get promoted

my company changed the process for l 7

promotions three times when they changed

I didn't get clarifications on what the

impact of the changes would be to my

particular promotion one of these

changes shifted the responsibility for a

promotion task from me to my manager

because I didn't know about the change

we weren't able to finish that step in

time and that set me back another cycle

which was 6 months all because I didn't

understand these steps you own your

career growth if it's an outcome that

you want you need to push for it and

understand what it takes for my next

Point let me tell you a story from some

when I mentored to the next level for

this video let's call him Lance Lance

was kicking butt he wrote a lot of high

quality code he fixed a lot of bugs he

made quick work of every task that was

picked up Lance does what he's told his

co-workers love him and his boss was

really happy with his work but when it

came time to get feedback from his

co-workers for promotion his feedback

providers weren't supportive and Lance

was a bit confused when we spoke he was

meeting all of the expectations for his

level and his performance was Stellar

why is it that high performance at level

wasn't enough for the next level level

the reason is because Tech promotions

are anti- Peter Principle the Peter

Principle is the idea that if you're

competent at your current level you

should get promoted Tech promotions are

almost always anti- Peter Principle that

is you have to demonstrate competence at

the next level before the promotion is

given to you the lesson here is that

promotions are not a reward for good

work but rather given to people that can

demonstrate that they can handle a

broader scope companies that publish

their promotion criteria are essentially

describing what that next level scope is

this usually doesn't come in the form of

checklists if it did then it would be a

simple matter of checking all the boxes

instead what you want to provide are

multiple data points of Next Level Scope

when I shared this mental model with

Lance he finally got it performance at

level even high performance there isn't

enough to get promoted on his next

project he took on more than what was

expected and he got promoted just 3

months later and that brings me to the

last lesson that I'll share with you

today suppose you had a choice between

two surgeons to do life-saving heart

surgery on you the research literature

states that people with your condition

have a 75% chance of survival for the

first surgeon all you have are glowing

reviews from previous patients they all

take the form of he's a great doctor I

would trust him to do it again in a

heartbeat pun intended and for the

second surgeon for some reason there was

a problem with getting reviews but you

had the raw data the second surgeon has

a 95% success rate a whopping 20% more

than the average so which one would you

choose of course you're going to choose

the second it's not because the good

reviews are a bad thing but because the

reviews suffer from literal Survivor bi

nobody that had a bad review was around

to give it but more than that it's

really difficult not to pick the second

one in light of the concrete evidence

that the second surgeon is really

effective at the procedure it's the same

thing when it comes to promotion if

you're able to document Next Level data

points with concrete evidence that

you're operating at the next level that

trumps any qualitative endorsement in

other words the lesson is that you

should gather tangible evidence that

you're operating at the next level I've

been witnessed to several promotions

that were kicked back because the entire

promotion packet was filled with

statement ments like Steve is a great

engineer whenever there's a problem I

trust that Steve will do the right thing

or Steve was instrumental to the project

name launch without him the project

would have been delivered late and with

more defects the problem with this type

of feedback is that it neglects to

isolate the specific contribution of the

person in question and to highlight why

that contribution demonstrates Next

Level scope instead a much more

effective Passage would read Steve was

responsible for Designing coding and

delivering a critical component for

project name it was a tricky thing to

write because because a component had to

provide a response to clients in under

10 milliseconds whereas a component that

he was replacing generated a response in

100 milliseconds he was able to do this

because he made the critical Insight

that many of the responses could be

pre-computed it's the same work but you

can see how the second piece of feedback

is much more compelling so how do you

get people to write such good feedback

for you it's simple generally you'll

know who will be giving you feedback for

promotion all you have to do is write

the feedback that you'd like to see from

them even if your project hasn't been

delivered yet as you do your work make

sure that you operate in a way that will

lead to the feedback that you want and

when promotion time comes you can send

them a little message that reminds them

of what they witnessed I do a similar

thing with my YouTube videos as part of

my process I write down the type of

comments that I want to elicit then when

I make my videos I try to do them in a

way that will generate the comments that

I want for the video for this video the

comments I wanted were I'm so glad that

I found your channel I just binged all

of your content and the content in your

videos is gold thanks for making them if

you start from the feedback that you

want from people and work backwards from

that it makes the process itself less

ambiguous because it gives you a Target

if you found these tips to be useful

make sure to register for the speedrun

to promotion launch event I'll go into

much more detail about the structured

approach to promotion that I developed

the promotion algorithm the link is in

the description if you found this video

to be useful check out my video on three

things holding back your promotion to

senior engineer if you're already a

senior engineer check out this video for

three things holding back your promotion

to staff or principal engineer