Summary: Dave Anderson shares his journey from a small publishing company to becoming a tech director at Amazon. He highlights how working at Amazon allowed him to learn and grow significantly in his career. Anderson emphasizes the value of being open to learning and the unique strengths that come from diverse backgrounds.
I wasn’t consciously out to change myself, but because I ended up with new habits, and a new social group. My new social group prioritized healthier activities. (View Highlight)
The next thing which surprised me was how incredibly competent everyone was. I later decided that this was a combination of two things. 1) Amazon hired smart people. 2) We had a concentration of experience, which allowed employees to know how to do hard things. (View Highlight)
If you’re feeling a bit stuck, like you haven’t done anything new in a while, it can feel amazing to go somewhere new. (View Highlight)
For me at least, it was learning to do things on my own. I didn’t have an experienced set of role models to learn from. I didn’t expect to be coached, which meant I had appropriately low expectations upon joining. I simply assumed I’d have to figure things out. (View Highlight)