Survive andthrive v1.0

How to Survive and Thrive in a
Technology Career
Scars, Lessons, and Learnings from 25 Years of Career
Bootstrapping in Technology
Presented by Mike Boucher for the Lake Superior State University Scholar Series
Sept. 12, 2017
V1.0
12/2/2017Mike Boucher, Sept. 12, 2017 for LSSU 1

 In today’s rapidly changing world, technologies, jobs, and industries
are in constant flux. What may be a thriving company today may be
out of business next year. What may be a skill in high demand today
may be outdated in 2 years. For someone working in or with
Technology, how does one stay relevant and avoid becoming a
dinosaur? Come listen to Mike Boucher as he shares scars, lessons,
and learnings from 25 years of bootstrapping his career from
Professional Audio, to Telecom, to Mobile, to Healthcare IT. Topics
covered will include the value of knowledge and the concept of
knowledge half-life, using leverage to drive a career transition, the
different dimensions of a technology career (technology VS role VS
functional domain VS industry) and much more.
 https://livestream.com/lakestate/survivethrive
 #LSSULibraryLecture
How to Survive and Thrive in a Technology Career – Scars, Lessons, and Learnings
from 25 Years of Career Bootstrapping in Technology

Its Great to be in Sault Ste. Marie at
LSSU!

 Marc and Meg
 Ali
 Live Audience
 Livestream universe
Thank You & Shout Out

 Problem Statement & Learning Objectives
 Introduction (provide context)
 Changes - looking back to look ahead
 Key Concepts to Survive and Thrive
 Lessons (Scars)
 Strategies to Survive and Thrive
 Where is Change happening today
Agenda

 Dinosaur – animals that became extinct
because they could not adapt to the
changes in their environment
 In today’s rapidly changing world, technologies, jobs,
companies, and industries are in constant flux. What may be a
thriving company today may be out of business next year. What
may be a skill in high demand today may be outdated in 2 years.
What may have been a growth industry for the last 5 years may
go into a steep or gradual decline (i.e. fewer jobs)
 For someone working with Technology, how does one stay
relevant (employed) and avoid becoming a dinosaur?
Problem Statement

 Share knowledge, scars and strategies for surviving and thriving in a
Technology Career
 Content is based on what I wish someone would have shared with
me when I was in school and early in my career
 Learning Objectives
 Understand the importance and dynamics of knowledge in your career
 Understand the different career dimensions of a Technology Career
 Remember at least 1 ‘scar’ that will save you from getting that same scar
 Remember at least 1 strategy you can use to optimize your technology
career
 Power of stories
Presentation Objective

 Mike Boucher - Program Manager at NextGen Healthcare in
Atlanta, GA
 Project Manage software development teams for NextGen’s
Electronic Health Record (EHR) product
 NextGen Healthcare provides EHR, financial, and Health
Information Exchange (HIE) solutions (Software Products &
Services) for physician practices, Community Health Centers,
and other healthcare organizations.
Introductions
8 12/2/2017Mike Boucher, Sept. 12, 2017 for LSSU

Mike’s Career Snapshot
9
Industry
Health IT
Mobile
Wireless Telecom
Professional Audio
Role
Program/Project Manager
IT Manager
Software Development
Manager
Software Engineer
Year
2012-17
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
90-95
1989
Education
CPHIMS
Six Sigma, Scrum Master
Project Management Professional
Grad Cert. Regulatory Affairs
Professional Engineer (PE)
MSEE
12/2/2017Mike Boucher, Sept. 12, 2017 for LSSU

5 Sheaths / Koshas / Layers
Program/Project Manager
Software Engineer
Engineer
Family Man
Seeker of Wisdom

Marc Boucher’s Oldest Brother

Blast from the Past (1990)

1990 2017 2032
• Paper Letters (No
Internet or email)
• No Cell phones
• PC with DOS
• Newspapers
• Cassette tapes, CD’s
• Department Stores
• Paper medical chart
• Mainframes
• Outsourcing
manufacturing
• High Speed Internet
• Google Search
• Smart Phones w/
camera & video
• Streaming Video
• Streaming Audio
• Amazon
• Alexa
• EHR, Fitbit, tele-
health
• Cloud
• Outsourcing
engineering &
customer support
??Drones
??Driverless vehicles
??Solar/Off Grid
??AI
??Smart Homes
??Precision/personal
medicine
Change – Looking Back to Look
Ahead

 Career Bootstrapping
 Knowledge
 Career Leverage
 Value of Time
 Dimensions of a Technology Career
Key Concepts to Survive and Thrive

Bootstrapping
 From Wikipedia: A self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help.
 From Google: Get (oneself or something) into or out of a situation using
existing resources- the company is bootstrapping itself out of a marred financial
past
Career Bootstrapping
 Using one’s existing resources (time, energy, money) and actions to purposefully
make changes to improve one’s job situation (career) – e.g. to obtain more
money, more fun, or more satisfaction.
Through classes, lots of self-reflection, reading and networking, Fred bootstrapped himself from a career in Telecom IT
administration into a career in Health IT as an Epic analyst.
Through classes in digital signal processing, working on a research project that involved DSP programming, and sending out
hundreds of job applications over the course of several years, Mike bootstrapped himself from a student to a software
engineer developing audio effect algorithms used in guitar amplifiers and keyboards.
The willingness and ability to bootstrap your career – whether from choice or necessity – is
a key enabler to keeping your career healthy and growing.
Career Bootstrapping
15
12/2/2017Mike Boucher, Sept. 12, 2017 for LSSU

 You are (or will be) a knowledge worker
 Compensation function
 Knowledge half life
 Broad VS Deep
Knowledge

 Whether you become a software engineer, a nurse, a
forensic chemist, or a manager of a fish hatchery, you will
be a knowledge worker.
 You will be paid for the knowledge you have and what you
do with that knowledge
 Valuable knowledge will empower you and sustain your
career < - > Lack of valuable knowledge will put your
technology career at risk
 Continuous learning (knowledge attainment) of valuable
knowledge grows and sustains your career
You are (or will be) a Knowledge
Worker

 Compensation  Contribution
 Contribution= fn(knowledge, skills, attitude)
 Knowledge& Skills
 Industry (Manufacturing, Pharma, Banking, Healthcare,
Telecom, etc.)
 Functional Role (Project Manager, Trainer, Tester,
Developer, Engineer, Sales, etc.)
 Technology (Java/C#, Gene Sequencing, machine
learning)
Knowledge & Pay

 Half-life is the period of time it takes for a substance
undergoing decay to decrease by half. The name was originally
used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms (radioactive
decay), but it may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate
decay. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-life
 The value of professional Knowledge & Skills has a
half-life of 5 years (mboucher 2011)
Continuous learning of valuable knowledge grows and sustains your career
Knowledge Value Half-Life

 Deep Knowledge
 You’ve invested a lot of time (& money and energy) to learn a particular area very well. You’re
recognized as an expert in that area.
 Pro – if that area is in high demand you will have great job opportunities
 Con – when that knowledge area goes out of demand, you don’t have a leg to stand on
 Broad Knowledge
 You’ve invested a lot of time (& money and energy) to achieve basic or even competent level of
knowledge in multiple areas, but do not have deep expertise in any particular area
 Pro – if one of your knowledge areas is no longer in demand, you have other areas to fall back on
 Con – Depending on your competency level, you may viewed as too light weight to be hired – especially for
higher paying (more senior) levels
 As your career grows, be aware of the risks of becoming too
narrow and deep or too general.
One broadening strategy: As you do your job, take the time to understand the jobs/work that come before and
after you – that will make you more effective and valuable and will also create opportunities for career
change/growth
 Customer > Product Manager > Business Analyst > Requirement Engineer > Software Engineer > Build
Engineer & DBA > QA > QA Automation > Release Manager > Customer Support > Customer
Double Deep Strategy: Obtain expertise in 2 separate domains
 Engineering & Law (Patent Attorney)
 Healthcare & IT (e.g. nurse/doctor & IT)
 Engineering & Business
Knowledge – Broad VS Deep

 Career Leverage: Using an existing skill, strength, experience, or
knowledge to drive a career transition
 I have used Leverage 3 times to accomplish career changes
 1st job out of school: microprocessor programming (DSP) + passion to
get a job in Professional Audio
 Transition to from Professional Audio to the Telecom Industry:
microprocessor programming (DSP)
 Transition to HIT from Mobile: Software Project Management
experience + passion
 When making a career change, its easier to do it 1 change at a time
 Career Change (Industry, Role, Level)
When planning a career change, identify and then obtain the necessary leverage
 To get out of software development and development management and into project
management, I got my PMP certification
 To work on Self-driving cars, identify companies, look at their job postings to see
what skills are being sought, market your existing skills to match or obtain the
missing skills via combination of work experience, training, and/or volunteering
Career Leverage

 Experience
 Training, Certifications
 Knowledge (e.g. classes, projects at work, homebrew
projects, reading, webinars)
 Recognition (get published, recommendations)
 Passion
As you spend time in your classes, your internships, or
your job, always be looking opportunities to increase
your Career Leverage
How to get Career Leverage:

 Time is your most valuable resource – you have 24 hours to spend each day
 After you subtract out the time for sleeping, eating, family, chores, and job –
how much ‘extra’ time do you have left?
 It takes time to learn new skills and knowledge
 One school of thought - Malcomb Gladwell - 10,000 hours to become really good
at something (see here)
 5 years of fulltime work
 20 years at 90 min per day
 Be thoughtful of how you invest your precious time in learning and be
efficient in your learning
 What should I learn? (e.g. Python or Portfolio Management or how
to write an iPhone app?)
 How should I learn it?
 Teach myself - buy a book, free Web sources
 Take a class
 Learn on the job – take a new job, move to a new project
Value of Time

 Technology: Cloud Services, CRISPR, IoT
 Role: Software Engineer, Quality Assurance, Project Manager, Sales, Client Support,
Entrepreneur, Trainer
 Functional Domain: Engineering, Software Development, Logistics, Process
Improvement, Sales, Business Development, Training/Learning
 Industry: Healthcare, Semiconductor, Life Science, Automotive, Retail
Your current career point is a function of these 4 dimensions
Change is occurring in all 4 dimensions.
The change occurring in the dimensions will impact your career in the form of danger and
opportunity. Be aware of change and take steps to mitigate the impact to your career.
 What are your current dimension points?
 Mike Boucher: Cloud Services / Project Manager / Project Management & Software Development Life
Cycle / HIT
 What will your dimension points be in 5 years, in 10 years, in 25 years?
 Telecom was hot in the late 1990’s, but not so much now
 Healthcare IT has been hot the last 5+ years, how long will it stay hot?
 DSP programming was hot in the early 90’s, but not so much now
 Client Server .NET or VB programmer doing waterfall work might want to look at getting into
Agile/JIRA/DevOps Cloud based work
Dimensions of a Technology Career

 Career Bootstrapping
 Knowledge
 Knowledge & Pay
 Knowledge half life
 Broad VS Deep
 Leverage
 Value of Time & where you spend it
 Dimensions of a Technology Career
 Technology/Role/Functional Domain/Industry
Recap - Key Concepts

 You will be laid off
 Mike the DSP Dinosaur
 Location matters
 Passing up Opportunities
 Persistence
Lessons (Scars)

 The question is not ‘Will I get laid off?” The question is “When will I
get laid off and how prepared will I be?”
 How long can you go w/o working?
 How quickly can you find any job to pay bills?
 How quickly can you find a good job?
 Are you willing to move?
 The more you make, the longer it takes to
find a new job
 Story – Lynchburg, VA
 Mike’s 3 layoffs between 1998-2010
The more prepared you are for the layoff (networked, in demand
skills, location, #months of living expenses in the bank) the better
you’ll survive the event.
Lesson - You Will Be Laid off

 In the early 1990’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP) was an in demand skill
 Learned it in school
 First professional audio job in 1990
 Semiconductor job in 1994
 Telecom job in 1997
 Laid off in 1998 – where are all the DSP jobs? Now everyone wants C++ 
Make sure your bread and butter skill is in demand. If its not in demand, get a new bread
and butter that is in demand before you are laid off
 Is what you are doing in your current job valuable to your current company?
 Maybe it used to be, but no longer is because the company’s priorities have changed!
 Mitigation: Get a different role at your company where you provide more value
 Mitigation: Get a job at a different company that values your work
 Is what you are doing in your current job valuable to other companies?
 Maybe your current role is valuable to your company, but is not valuable to other
companies!
 Mitigation: Get a different role at your company where what you do is valuable to the
company and is marketable/valuable to other companies
 Mitigation: Get a job at a different company where what you do is marketable/valuable to
other companies
Make sure the work you do you in your job is valuable to both your current company
and to other companies
Lesson – Mike the DSP Dinosaur

 Where you live is a key factor in your career growth
and career opportunities
 Mike’s path: WI to Meridian MS to Austin, TX to
Lynchburg, VA to Memphis, TN to Atlanta, GA
 The challenge with Lynchburg and Memphis
 Danger/Silicon Valley (2006-2010)
 Tradeoff – Lifestyle VS Cost VS Career opportunities
 Be thoughtful about where you live and your career
choice
 If your priority is to work in a certain field, consider moving to the epicenter for that
field
 If you priority is to live in a certain area, consider getting skills that are in demand in
that area (MI cars, MNPLS – Med devices)
 Working remote is possible, but not easy to stay employed
Lesson – Location Matters

 To transition my career from audio to Telecom, I took
a job in Lynchburg, VA (pop 79,000)
 Moved my wife and 2 kids there and bought our first
house
 1 Year later I was laid off as part of a large cutback at the
company due to the company’s inability to transition
from analog to digital wireless telecom
 Challenge
 Found out I was a DSP dinosaur
 Small town with only 1 other tech company
 Minimal professional network to tap
 Cash was very tight
Laid off Dinosaur in Lynchburg
(Don’t try this at home!)

 Opportunities to grow and advance your career don’t
come along that often
 When an opportunity comes along, there is often a
tradeoff
Be thoughtful before saying no to a good opportunity because
it may be a long time before such an opportunity comes around
again.
 Story - Manager of Managers
 If I looked back in 5 years, what would I regret not doing
Lesson – Passing up Opportunities

 Career changes take time; be prepared to work hard for a period
of time to achieve your goal
 Stories
 Professional audio: 1986 – 1990
 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990
 Memphis: 1995 - 1998
 Healthcare: 2005 – 2011
 Regulatory Affairs, PMI, reading,
 MSFT layoff
 Riding the Switchbacks
 “It seems the harder I work, the more luck I have.” - Thomas
Jefferson
 Embrace and enjoy your career journey as that will sustain you
during the time your are working to achieve your next goal
Lesson – Persistence

 You will be laid off
 Mike the DSP Dinosaur
 Location matters
 Passing up Opportunities
 Persistence
Recap - Lessons

 Constant job search
 Understand what other’s do at work
 Learn how to Learn & Keep Learning
 Know yourself
 Give back
Strategies

 Always be running a background job search
 Monitor opportunities and what skills are in demand
 Agile Transformation, Portfolio Management, Technical
Product Owner
 Benefits
 Look at your current job with fresh eyes (Mitsubishi story)
 Practice interviewing and selling yourself
 Help figure out what you really want
 Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile up to date
 When the layoff comes, you’re ready to hit the ground running
 May find an opportunity to advance/improve your career
Run a constant background job search to stay in touch with
the job market
Strategy – Constant Job Search

 As you do your job, learn what those around you do
 Product Manager > Requirement Engineer > QA
Engineer > Documentation > Release Manager >
Customer Support
 Advantages
 You do your job better
 You help others do their job better
 You gain more knowledge (remember
knowledge/contribution/compensation)
 You gain more opportunities – i.e. maybe you discover a
job or role that really interests you
Strategy – Learn What others Do

 Identify what is worth learning
 Learn efficiently
 1 hour webinars
 Mike: HIT, Project Management, Agile
 Find a mentor or coach
 Conferences
 Just do it – Volunteer to do something to learn a new skill
 Mike: Beta Manager, PMI Healthcare SIG
 Invest in a course
 Mike: Coursera (2016), Health IT (2011), Graduate classes at
UGA for Reg. Affairs (2006), Java at Community College (2001)
Strategy – Learn how to Learn

 What sacrifices are you willing to make (or not make)?
 What do you enjoy doing?
 What is your risk tolerance?
 Are you willing to quit your job and live on credit cards while you
write the next killer app?
 Are you willing to take a salary or benefit cut or move to a new
place to take a job that has the potential to lead to something
great (stock options, promotions & experience)?
 There is a risk in avoiding risk
 What are your priorities (money, commute flexibility, benefits,
role/title, ties to the community)?
 What is your passion – go after a job that kindles your passion
 You are going to put in long hours and sacrifice personal time
(family, exercise) for the job. Make the sacrifice worth it!
 Story: Mike’s transition from mobile to Healthcare IT
Strategy – Know Yourself

 As you gain new valuable knowledge, freely share it with
your teammates and your organization
 2002 – Lecture on Java Basics
 2015 – Lecture on How to Hold Effective Meetings
 Share webinar notes
 Summarize and share webinar learnings
 Mentor those around you who are striving to grow
 Make time to help friends in colleagues in their job
searches
As you help others gain new skills and knowledge, you
increase your own knowledge, your own value and your
karma!
Strategy – Share & Give Back

 Constant job search
 Understand what other’s do at work
 Learn how to Learn & Keep Learning - Webinars,
networking events
 Know yourself – what’s your passion, priorities, and
risk tolerance
 Share & Give back
Recap - Strategies

 Precision Medicine (genomics, big data, cloud)
 Agile – Scrum/Kanban/Lean
 IoT
 Voice Control (replacing keypad entry)
 Cars/transportation
 AI
 Power generation and distribution
Technology Trends

 Share knowledge and strategies for surviving and thriving in a
Technology Career
 Learning Objectives
 Understand the importance and dynamics of knowledge in your
career
 Understand the different career pillars:
Technology/Role/Functional Domain/Industry
 Remember at least 1 ‘scar’ that will save you from getting that
same scar (laid off dinosaur in Lynchburg)
 Remember at least 2 strategies you can use to enhance your own
career (constant job search, what others do, learn to learn, know
yourself, give back)
Recap - Presentation Objective

 Don’t become a dinosaur
 Be prepared to be laid off
 Keep learning
 Be thoughtful about where you invest your time and
where you decide to live
 5 or 10 year from now a lot of things you take for
granted in your job and in your daily life will be
replaced by something different
In a Nutshell

 Thanks for listening; Let’s open it up to questions &
discussion
 What information can I share that will help you?
 Contact Information:
 Mike Boucher (mikeboucher@yahoo.com)
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedsp/
Q&A
45

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