maphew

Recognition for invisible work

April 24, 2022

It’s easy to get recognition for fighting fires, but it’s hard to get recognized for preventing fires.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

…invisible work is work that is:

  • Critical to your success
  • Takes skill to do well
  • Is never shown to stakeholders

My background is in data science. I can confidently say that almost all of my work is invisible.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

Good analysis is a process of developing hypotheses and then discarding them.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

I had to convince myself and others that the core of my work changed. I found the best way to do that was by creating a clear and memorable story about what I do and why it’s hard. Once I understood this well, I was able to make better decisions about my work and convince others that it was important.

The key here was to focus on what was actually hard about my work. Sometimes it was a technical piece, but more often, it wasn’t. Was the hardest part of your last project writing the code? Or was it framing the problem well, getting buy-in, and getting a budget?

Once you have a story, focus on what outcomes you created. Don’t focus on the code you pumped out or the report you wrote. Focus on how your work changed the company.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

I have three practical tips to help you build this story:

  • Fight recency bias with snippets
  • Keep a brag doc
  • Practice your story until it’s smooth

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

Fight recency bias (with snippets)

Snippets are a habit I picked up at Google. The key here is to make a habit of summarizing your work at regular intervals. I do this every other week but some prefer to do it weekly.

Snippets are a way to collect data on yourself. Try to be specific. Include links to artifacts if you can. Try to document where you’re spending your time and energy, not just the stuff that’s obviously work.

I find that once a problem is well-framed, there’s usually an obvious solution. The hard part is getting to a well-framed problem. 

However, when I look back on my work I only see the solution I came up with, not the work that went into framing the problem well. Snippets make it easy to remember where the hard and important work actually happened.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

Keep a brag document

This is common advice – but that’s because it’s useful!

I keep a list of my professional successes in a Google Doc. Every time I’m excited about a project going well, I try to make a quick note of it.

This is a nice ego boost, but it’s useful too. This excitement fades quickly and it becomes hard to remember what I was excited about even a month later. When I look at my brag doc it serves as an index to my weekly snippets, showing me where to look for important work. Plus it’s a nice dopamine hit.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>

Work the story until it’s smooth

The first time you try telling your story, it’s going to be clunky. The only way to get past this is practice. Work your story over until it’s smooth. In the ideal case, you want this story to be able to spread by word of mouth.

I like practicing my story in my 1:1s. Usually someone asks me what I’ve been up to. This is a great chance to share what you think was actually difficult about your work this week. Replacing the usual small talk with commentary on my invisible work has sparked some great conversations with my coworkers. Pretty often there’s a flash of recognition where they realize that – yeah, that is really hard!

You’ll want to share your story with your manager too. Your manager is eventually going to be in a room with their peers arguing for why you need a promotion. If you’ve armed your manager with a great story about why your work is hard, they’re going to be grateful to you for making them look smart.

From <https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level#Echobox=1649867081>