#22: I celebrate the first decade of my career. Here are 10 of the most impactful insights I've got.

I spent 10 years in software engineering and here are 10 important things I learned.

Today I celebrate the first decade of my career. On this path, I've been exploring more and more, diving deeper and deeper, getting wider and wider perspectives, and here are 10 of the most impactful insights I've got.

1. The team is the driver. A strong team can make everything you can imagine but a strong team is not just a set of strong individuals, it is also strong relationships and a healthy atmosphere of cooperation.

2. Sustainable development is a result of evolution. Over this decade I've seen many examples when people (including me) overthink a problem, trying to find a silver bullet via creating a complex solution expecting that a simple task will transform into a much more complex one but this does not happen. This statement is not only about coding but also about every area where you can apply an engineering approach (including development process improvement).

3. Success is a result of meeting expectations. The single definition of success that makes sense to me is meeting the expectations of those who are interested in the result. If you create a boat that should be perfect from a transferring perspective for those who want to cross the river, they won't care that you forgot a figurehead.

4. A consistent model of the world in your head is truth. If you have a consistent model in your mind that explains why you should do X but not Y and nobody can break it, you must trust yourself.

5. Inclusivity brings efficiency. Practically speaking, all people have good ideas that help to identify alternative POVs on the problem. But not everyone is bold enough to speak loudly. You might have a diverse team but if you do not help them to be included in discussions you lose all the benefits.

6. Feedback Cycles is a source of improvements. Do you want to improve something? Create a feedback cycle. Period. And don't forget to measure to verify the progress. Period Period.

7. Creative ideation requires freedom. If you apply too many constraints and limitations, if you create too tough processes, this might damage creativity because when people strictly follow rules it is harder to apply critical thinking and identify alternatives

8. Listen, not speak. Rapid reaction to something you hear often will bring wrong outcomes because to solve a problem you have to understand it, to understand it, especially, the root cause of it you have to listen. Listen a lot.

9. Startup needs speed, enterprise needs quality. Speed vs Quality is one of the most dramatic trade-offs I have ever seen. Those who spend too much on quality on early stages just don't survive because speed is not enough to achieve results and get first clients, those who ignore quality because of high pace start loosing their clients.

10. Purpose brings motivation. Not money, not impressive speeches, not authority but answer on the question "why" brings long-term motivation

11. You are able.