Like many developers, I entered this career because I enjoy creating programs and solving problems. However, sometimes managers just don't understand the hacker mentality. While we as developers may strive for perfect code, as employees, we are expected to deliver results.
While programmers may prefer to be judged on our awesome coding abilities, managers prefer more tangible and measurable qualities to grade us on. While we may not like it, this is how the corporate environment works.
If a developer wants to advance his career, sometimes its necessary to play ball. Playing the company politics game is not a game most people will want to play, but it is a necessary evil.
Playing the politics game sounds dirty, but not it doesn't have to be.
The easiest way to play to do this is by making your boss look good. Completing tasks on time, delivering accurate estimates, and providing expert advice are a few ways this can be done everyday. But it is the atypical tasks that provide the best opportunity for this. Whenever there support issues, timeliness and clear communication are key to making you, your department, and your manager look good to other departments and the rest of the company.
Special projects are also a good opportunity to excel. Perhaps its tabulating some data, building a special application, or creating some documentation. These can provide insights to what the company at large is working on and provide ways to help accomplish those goals.
Recently, my manager was tasked with finding out who had an MCP ID. I had one, but had some difficulty finding it. While searching for it, I learned that it was important for the company's Microsoft Gold certification. For those without a MCP ID, this would be an opportunity to earn one while the need was still in the manager's mind.
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