Self Evaluation & Personal Evolution
This wasn't the blog post I was planning to write. I've been neck-deep into learning all-the-things about managing folks, hiring folks, training folks, and generally making myself better glue. My hope is that after I write this post, I can follow up on some of that as well.
Since about October 2018, I've been doing a lot of soul searching, and evaluating skills, and trying to understand where my personal interests are and where my skills and talents are focused.
Maybe it's a midlife crisis (though my therapist hesitates to call it that). I prefer to call it a midlife evaluation. We all take them from time to time. Some just for fun, and some as part of self-discovery. Personality evaluations, skill evaluations, mental health evaluations, physicals. Periodically, one or more of these turn up a few things we weren't aware of or didn't quite understand.
For me, my career journey thus far has been one I'm very proud of and I have enjoyed (almost) every minute.
I've done so much I never thought I would do and there's so much more that I'm thinking of doing and accomplishing. In the interest of self-evaluation, I've had to really think about my priorities and what I have space and time to accomplish.
This past week, I made the tough decision to step back from my EditorBoss duties. It's always been a parttime gig for me, and I've helped a lot of people publish their first technical articles. I am very proud of the MoT style guide that I helped create so that our articles have the same read-through and structure. I'm proud of the work and all of the people I've met and worked with through MoT.
It's bittersweet in some ways. The Ministry of Testing has given me a lot. Over the last six months I've had less time to focus on editing and technical writing. Part of this is because of the work I'm doing at Unity, which I'm extremely proud of. Another part is recognizing that because of the focus I've had on managing and developing a better quality culture at Unity, I've not been able to focus on the editing work that I've found enjoyable over the last three years or so.
I hope, by stepping back from this role, it creates space for someone else to come in and make improvements, foster new voices, and grow the content MoT is working on in new and fun ways.
This change in focus for me will also give me time to write more, not only for this blog, but also for the Ministry of Testing, and several other folks that have approached me and asked for articles and blog posts. While I love editing, I love writing more.
That's the self-discovery I made recently - writing is a passion. I missed it. I've found it again. In this crazy, wacky time, we all need to hang on to things that we are passionate about.
I'm still pretty passionate about developing quality software. I'm passionate about writing, and I enjoy speaking with folks a lot. Moving forward, I'm going to focus on these three things.
The Ministry of Testing community has always been there for me. While I'm stepping back from the EditorBoss role, this doesn't mean I'm stepping back from the community. You'll still see me on the slack chats, and at TestBashes. I have an MoT tattoo, so my commitment to this community is permanently inked.
I want to thank everyone at MoT for their time and patience. For often dealing with the American in their midst( and the timezone craziness). Also for being all-around excellent peers. I have no doubt we'll all cross paths again. Much love and heart.
My challenge for you, dear reader, is this: What are you passionate about? What have you been thinking about that you haven't done in a while (that could still be done safely in quarantine or you could pick up afterward)? What things could you be doing if you got out of your own way?
Find them. Either find the new things, or pick up the old ones you set down and see if they were put down on accident. Hang on to the ones that help. Thank the ones that were there when you needed them, and let them go with your best wishes. I know that sounds hokey, but sometimes the hokey and the sentimental things get us through tough times.
Here's to personal evolution my friends and readers. I think we'll all be doing a lot of it in the not-too-distant future.
Since about October 2018, I've been doing a lot of soul searching, and evaluating skills, and trying to understand where my personal interests are and where my skills and talents are focused.
Maybe it's a midlife crisis (though my therapist hesitates to call it that). I prefer to call it a midlife evaluation. We all take them from time to time. Some just for fun, and some as part of self-discovery. Personality evaluations, skill evaluations, mental health evaluations, physicals. Periodically, one or more of these turn up a few things we weren't aware of or didn't quite understand.
For me, my career journey thus far has been one I'm very proud of and I have enjoyed (almost) every minute.
I've done so much I never thought I would do and there's so much more that I'm thinking of doing and accomplishing. In the interest of self-evaluation, I've had to really think about my priorities and what I have space and time to accomplish.
This past week, I made the tough decision to step back from my EditorBoss duties. It's always been a parttime gig for me, and I've helped a lot of people publish their first technical articles. I am very proud of the MoT style guide that I helped create so that our articles have the same read-through and structure. I'm proud of the work and all of the people I've met and worked with through MoT.
It's bittersweet in some ways. The Ministry of Testing has given me a lot. Over the last six months I've had less time to focus on editing and technical writing. Part of this is because of the work I'm doing at Unity, which I'm extremely proud of. Another part is recognizing that because of the focus I've had on managing and developing a better quality culture at Unity, I've not been able to focus on the editing work that I've found enjoyable over the last three years or so.
I hope, by stepping back from this role, it creates space for someone else to come in and make improvements, foster new voices, and grow the content MoT is working on in new and fun ways.
This change in focus for me will also give me time to write more, not only for this blog, but also for the Ministry of Testing, and several other folks that have approached me and asked for articles and blog posts. While I love editing, I love writing more.
That's the self-discovery I made recently - writing is a passion. I missed it. I've found it again. In this crazy, wacky time, we all need to hang on to things that we are passionate about.
I'm still pretty passionate about developing quality software. I'm passionate about writing, and I enjoy speaking with folks a lot. Moving forward, I'm going to focus on these three things.
The Ministry of Testing community has always been there for me. While I'm stepping back from the EditorBoss role, this doesn't mean I'm stepping back from the community. You'll still see me on the slack chats, and at TestBashes. I have an MoT tattoo, so my commitment to this community is permanently inked.
I want to thank everyone at MoT for their time and patience. For often dealing with the American in their midst( and the timezone craziness). Also for being all-around excellent peers. I have no doubt we'll all cross paths again. Much love and heart.
My challenge for you, dear reader, is this: What are you passionate about? What have you been thinking about that you haven't done in a while (that could still be done safely in quarantine or you could pick up afterward)? What things could you be doing if you got out of your own way?
Find them. Either find the new things, or pick up the old ones you set down and see if they were put down on accident. Hang on to the ones that help. Thank the ones that were there when you needed them, and let them go with your best wishes. I know that sounds hokey, but sometimes the hokey and the sentimental things get us through tough times.
Here's to personal evolution my friends and readers. I think we'll all be doing a lot of it in the not-too-distant future.
I have a blog named hindi raftaar which is related to entertainment and movies industry. I needed you point of view on self evaluation badly. Thanks for the tips.
ReplyDeleteKinda bummed you won't be EditorBoss going forward, they'll be lacking an awesome editor! I feel like I ought to let go of something, but I can't seem to! It was nice to hear about your new job on the AB 343 podcast.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. That means a lot. I'm pretty thrilled about myself. I'm at 1.5 years at Unity, so it will be interesting to see what happens when I reach the 2 yr mark.
Delete