Congratulations to the Indian space agency and all of India for successfully landing on the moon! (Sorry, I’m generally a quiet space nerd, but this was cool and relevant.) After years of planning, hundreds (if not thousands) of people involved, and millions of dollars (quite possibly, literally a shoestring budget for NASA), India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully touched down a lander and rover on the lunar surface—fantastic teamwork, planning, collaboration, and achievement.
Of course, none of us was planning our layoffs, but that doesn’t mean we cannot continue to be planful about our job search. I mentioned in week #1 that using a tracker (like Notion) would be helpful, and it has proven to be very useful in keeping track of companies I’ve applied to, follow-ups, things to research, and much more. I’ve also mentioned planning for your next role in week #12.
Today, I want to talk about planning for something entirely new. (Unfortunately, it’s not a job yet.) I’m partnering with an executive coach to co-create a curriculum for managers moving towards directors, VP, and eventually CTO roles. Cataloging leading teams into distinct lessons, reading materials, discussions, models, and homework has been gratifying. Seeing the years of hard-fought lessons and (more often) mistakes I struggled through has crystalized for me the vision and action plan as I embark on my next role. Even if you’re not planning to offer a course in your career field shortly, writing down how you executed and led has the powerful effect of forcing you to explain your thoughts. Give it a shot!
Planning Numbers
79% of profits have outpaced expectations this cycle…but that is based on lowered guidance leading to a 5.2% decrease in earnings per share against spring last year, a signal that more layoffs may be coming. source
2,400 Jobs were cut at Farmers Insurance, or about 11% of its workforce, joining Binance, T-Mobile, Robinhood, and Ford, showing that the tech layoffs may be the tip of the spear still. source
84% -> 50% drop in 6+ hour in-office workdays compared to before the pandemic. Return to office…but for how long? source
Plan to layoff the work
This coming weekend is Labor Day Weekend in the US. Get out and enjoy that last gasp of Summer. If you’re in Texas, don’t worry too much; we still have “second summer” to look forward to. I know it’s hard, but planning some downtime away from the job search is crucial to mental health. Refreshing your inbox, scanning LinkedIn for the 50th time today, revising your resume for the 90th time (does “resume_final_v2_done_edited.pdf” look familiar to anyone?), and similar activities aren’t going to be the way you get a job. They’re how you give yourself extra stress you don’t need. Plan a break. Step away. Read a book. Do something for yourself. Whatever you do, enjoy the long weekend.
Strategic Planning
As I’m writing the curriculum for this new course, strategic planning was a key topic. I broke it down into four areas where strategy is most important as you move from manager to CTO.
- Strategic hiring – evaluating the teams’ skills, the business needs, the projected growth, the seniority of the group, and more to create a holistic plan for what roles are needed and in what order.
- Product Strategy – connecting the company mission and vision with a long-term picture of how the product(s) will evolve and meet customer needs more and more.
- Strategic Architecture – balancing organizational design with technical design to be able to deliver impactful software in record time.
- Strategic Growth – growing the culture of the team and company from your current incarnation into the company you need to be years down the line.
I’m sure you will think of other vital areas to consider. I thought of several more to consider while writing today, but nailing these gives you a significant leg up over many other teams in my experience.
Fun
Jobs to be done exemplified (watch the video):
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please contact me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For total transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not colored by any outside influences.