Larry Smith

Here is a video of a recent presentation I did, also related to career success.

Why You Will Fail To Solve Important Problems | Larry Smith, University of Waterloo Larry is a Professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo, and an effective speaker and storyteller. He has mentored many of his students on start-up b...

Strange Career Mistake Number 9
Talking too little. Unless you talk about your own ideas and comment on those of others, you fall to the bottom of the promotion list. If you tend to be a “quiet” person, you need to change. Or accept your low-level status. It’s a brutal world out there.
Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 9
Read a book about your industry, excluding biographies or autobiographies, at least once a year. You want to book that discusses systemic issues, both current and fundamental. Otherwise, you will never have a strategic understanding of either your industry or your career, and you will never be a “player”.

Strange Career Mistake Number 8
Helping a coworker, without anyone noticing. If we lived in paradise, you would be helpful and not care who saw you. But in today’s world, you need to make sure the world, your employer, knows you are helpful. Otherwise, the person you helped might take credit for your contribution. But be discrete, noticed in an understated way. Nobody needs you pretending you are key to everything.
Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 8
Dress like everyone else, almost. Over dressing makes you look like you’re trying too hard; under dressing the company norm makes you look like you don’t care about the culture or the work. But you need to get noticed, without anyone noticing why they’re noticing you. So small, careful touches of accessories or colours or textures is all you need. Think this is too trivial to make a difference to your career? A smart person uses every tool available for advancement.

Strange Career Mistake Number 7
Believing that you are immune to the conditions of the global economy. No technical skill, no matter how strong the demand, can shield you from a macroeconomic ambush. Given that responsibility for the richest economy on earth now rests with an irrational and therefore completely unpredictable government, double down on your career plan. Warning, warning, danger, danger.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 7
Identify a piece of information that is important to your employer, but that is factually wrong. It will take a lot less time than you might suppose. Or do you really think you live in paradise, a place where no one is misinformed? Not on this planet. Take the documented correct answer to your boss, as an illustration of your commitment to the company and your abnormal insight. There are two outcomes. The boss thinks you are brilliant or a troublemaker. There is no reward without risk. But if you work for a company that does not value accurate information, your job is at risk in any event.

Here is a podcast of an interview I did in the U.S. for a college audience.

https://www.facebook.com/baselinehuman/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Baseline Human Baseline Human. Target? Superhuman

Strange Career Mistake Number 6
Agreeing with your boss on a major issue, even when you think he or she is wrong. [On minor issues, you are non-committal, saying “we could try that.” You do not argue with the boss about small stuff.] When you suppress your own judgment, you put yourself at risk if someone more powerful than your boss then decides you are either a fool or a liar. And if that more influential person is a senior consultant for your employer, you may find that few headhunters ever call you.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 6
From time to time, attend an art gallery or museum and comment on the latest exhibition in the workplace. If you are in a technical discipline, this tactic is especially useful. So attend a show about Caravaggio at the Galley for Intelligent People and tell your boss how amazing the paintings were. You are crafting your personal brand. You are becoming a person with “unexpected depth.”

Strange Career Mistake Number 5
Getting distracted. While many people understand at least part of what they need to do to have a great career, they do not get these steps accomplished. They get distracted by all manner of minor matters. They skate and browse and surf, and never get to the essential priorities of a career, or even of a successful life. Without focus and discipline, abandon ambition.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 5
While there is no doubt communication skills are necessary for a successful career, many struggle to develop these skills, either written or spoken. Practice is, without a doubt, a powerful way to acquire these skills. Unfortunately, finding time to do so may be a challenge. An excellent way to practice efficiently is to take EVERY opportunity to communicate more vivdly, more persuasively. Say something interesting to the dry cleaner, order your dinner with more creative language, tell your co-worker about an idea rather than who will win what game where. Practice! When you order wine, ask the server to recommend a selection that has the fragance of a meadow in springtime, with a hint of the restorative power of the sun. Watch yourself get noticed; watch the server's face. Practice!

Strange Career Mistake Number 4
Choosing employment with a prestige company instead of the one that offers the best long-term potential. Those who are older have seen the hero companies of their youth end up in the trash bin of history. The young unfortunately lack that perspective and are often led astray. If you work at one of those iconic companies, see Kick-Ass Career tip Number 3.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 4
Trade shows are the single most efficient way both to keep up-to-date on trends in your industry and to look for alternative employers. Lobby aggressively to get your employer to send you to as many as possible. Report back useful stuff so you get sent again. If you still do not get enough opportunities, persuade a friend in another company to get you in. If all else fails, pay yourself to attend.

Strange Career Mistake Number 3
Believing that your strong work ethic will certainly bring career success. Of course, that is true since all of your colleagues are lazy louts. If they are not, you plan to work them under the table. If they work hard, you will work harder until only one of you is standing. So you do not trouble yourself with sleep, food or a life. You are Career Super Hero. Or is that Super Idiot?

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 3
No one is ever free unless they always have SEVERAL alternative jobs at the ready. Of course, your current employer might not like the fact you are considering or actively seeking alternatives. But while you owe your employer many things, like a fair day's work for a fair day's pay or respect for their proprietary property, you do not owe them loyalty. So be discrete. And be free.

Strange Career Mistake Number 2
Getting an excellent job and then having no plan to be promoted. Think you don’t need one? Just do good work? Then draw a pyramid and tape it to your front door.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 2
Once a week, ask your boss a work-related question that does NOT involve the immediate task at hand. Vary the types of questions over time. [You can find lots of such questions by reading Bloomberg Businessweek regularly.] In this way, you become a “natural” choice for greater responsibility.

Strange Career Mistake Number 1
Thinking that skill is more important than passion. That is like thinking that your reproductive machinery is more important than the chemistry that drives it. Both are essential for peak performance.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 1
Comment to your boss about the history of your company, technology or marketplace and its relevance to a current issue; this is done so seldom, you will look like a genius. [Look for this info beyond Google or Wikipedia; otherwise a co-worker can easily duplicate your tactic.]