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More than just a job
Was this the right decision?
In mid-2022, I got a phone call, asking whether I would like to apply to become CTO for the UK Government. I had only been in my current job for a short time, so I said no. That wasn’t the only reason: I had spent almost all of my career in the private sector and understood enough about how things worked in that world to be reasonably helpful and successful. I must also admit that, coming from that world, I did not (yet) perceive work in the public sector as particularly attractive or exciting.
However . . .
At the back of my mind, I felt that I had a debt to pay. My very first paying job in technology was as a COBOL programmer for HM Customs & Excise. Before that job, I was an amateur programmer, but had no degree and no professional qualifications in computing. After two years, I was trained and experienced, and capable of working in a professional technology environment - and, like many of my peers, I took my skills to private industry. I hadn’t been back since.
Twelve firsts: lessons learnt from a few decades in technology
What have you learnt in your career?
I was privileged to be asked this question by some of my colleagues in the Central Digital and Data Office, in the hope that some of my stumbles, trips, outright failures and occasional successes would provide useful lessons. I’ve worked for about twenty organisations over more than thirty years, so there were a lot of examples to choose from, but twelve firsts stood out for me - things which shaped me when I experienced them for the first time.
The first time I used a computer was a ZX81 which one of my father’s friends had lent us. We only had it for a few days, but it taught me that if I put instructions into the machine, it would do what I told it to do. I’ve carried on putting instructions into machines, either directly or indirectly, ever since.
My first full-time job was in a lab while taking a year off before studying biology. It taught me that I was not cut out for the precision and repetition of lab work, and that maybe this field was not for me. I did like working with the computers that ran the lab equipment, though.
Three things I’ve learnt at BCG
Today is my last day at BCG. (I’ll share what I’m going to do next in the near future: let’s just say that it had to be something pretty special to tempt me away from BCG.) My time here has been one of the most intense learning experiences of my life: I’ve learnt about new industries, new technologies, and got to see how one of the world’s leading consultancies works from the inside. But there are three things which have particularly stayed with me, and which I plan to add to the box of conceptual, practical and technical tools I have built over my career.
Are you new here? Lessons learnt from many new starts
I joined Google on 7th September 2020, so I’ve just celebrated my six month Google-versary! As well as being a fascinating experience at a very strange time, passing this milestone prompted me to reflect on my experience in other new roles and new companies. I’ve changed jobs many times in my career and, although Google is different from most companies I have worked for, I have been through many of the same thoughts and feelings, highs and lows as I have experienced in other places. I thought that it might be useful to share some of the lessons I have learnt, in the hope that they can help other people moving into new roles.
Tinker, tailor, strategist, innovator
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’m still not entirely sure that I know, so it’s slightly scary when people ask for my advice on their career choices. Fortunately, being a technology architect means that I’m always prepared to express an opinion on something I don’t completely understand.
Two of the career choices I am asked about most frequently are technology strategy and innovation (probably because I have people that do both of these types of work in my team). Here is some of the advice I offer people to help them figure out whether these choices are good for them, and what kind of qualities they need to do this work well. (Like all advice from a technology architect it is well meant, but possibly wrong.)