Here | Office Workspace, USA | Aug 2008

Don, my first boss at my first job out of university, taught me to be accurate, to be accountable, to never pass blame, to ask questions, to never take the easy path out and to stand behind everything I deliver. He was a model for how to have a life outside work, with a great family, outside interests and a good life.

These things I learned (some fast, some slowly), but I could have learned a lot more if I had been smart enough to listen.

There were things I learned fast, and did very well, but other things I failed to grasp until I picked up more context over time.

At the time I thought I had “it” figured out.

Now I just think about how clueless I was.

It scares me to think about how wrong I was about things at other jobs, in other places, with other people, in seemingly other lives: because it forces me to wonder what I’m completely misjudging right now.

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That said, I’ve learned a few things. Check out my post How to Fail: 25 Secrets Learned through Failure on Unstructured Thoughts.