Bring a solution

My first promotion, from a graduate level to just above, was completely unexpected. I wasn’t asking for it, nor deliberately working towards it. It just happened.

And I remember one of the justifications given for my promotion sounded so simple and obvious that I didn’t expect it to be in any way exceptional. My manager said to me something like this:

What we really like is that you don’t just come to us with problems, you also bring the solution. You clearly articulate (usually in writing) what the problem is, what you’ve considered, and what you recommend we do next. That makes my job easy! I just review and usually go along with your recommendation.

Too many years have passed to remember exactly what they said, so it probably wasn’t quite that! But the key points are all there in my reproduction.

I still try to work that way today, over 15 years later.

This is #2 in my 2023 series of short, actionable tips for your career. You can view the entire series at https://andrew-jones.com/categories/career/