Explore Your Convictions and Don't Be Afraid to Take Risks with Luke Kanies

Phil's guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Luke Kanies. He is a design and strategy-oriented advisor, speaker, writer and the founder of Puppet, a company helping to define the future of software.   He has a number of interests, including software productivity, business strategy and the inclusion of more people in the software revolution.    In this episode, Phil and Luke Kanies discuss how and why he created Puppet. Luke goes into detail about his journey through founding, funding and finally leaving the company he formed.   Luke also talks about how being a bit of a maverick thinker and risk-taker has helped him to have such a successful career. They also speak about a huge software development market that is still virtually untapped and how users having more control of their data will change things, moving forward.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: (10.09) TOP CAREER TIP Getting fired is incredibly valuable. It has happened to Luke several times. After a while, he worked out that not being afraid of being fired freed him up to pursue the things he really cared about and be honest.   He became braver and took more risks, an approach that really paid off for him. Provided you do not go too mad, taking a few risks can be good for your career.   (12.40) WORST CAREER MOMENT Luke has had a few bad career moments. But, it is the collateral damage that comes from running a growth company that has been the worst thing about his career.  Luke discusses the mistake he made of hiring a friend. Unfortunately, working in a high-growth environment put an incredible strain on their relationship and caused a lot of damage.   In the podcast, Luke goes through some of the issues he had with setting up and running Puppet. He talks about challenges like financing, pulling together an executive team, scaling and leaving the company behind. All of which created difficulties for Luke.   (16.03) CAREER HIGHLIGHT Making Puppet, it feels great when someone comes up to him and thanks him for creating Puppet. Luke explains that people tell him that Puppet made their lives so much easier. DevOps pros regularly tell him that they now enjoy better pay and a good work/life balance because of what Puppet did for them.   (17.40) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Luke thinks that the practice of surveillance capitalism is coming to an end. He is also excited by the movement to decentralise the web and give the power back to the people.   Smartphones and cloud platforms have opened up the chance to build products that literally billions of people can use. You can now build truly specialised software tools to help people to do their jobs better.   (22.20) THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – The fact IT was a good fit for him and he was able to get paid well. Before he took on an IT role he was fired from every previous position he held. What's the best career advice you received? – Reserve the right to wake up smarter tomorrow. In other words, if new information comes along, don't be afraid to change your point of view. What's the worst career advice you received? – There is no chance that you can succeed with Puppet. They were definitely wrong about that. What would you do if you started your career now? – Luke would look at what everyone else is doing and look to fill the white space. Luke likes to do something different. What are your current career objectives? – Luke is focusing on building tools to automate tedious tasks, so you are freed up to do more interesting, better paid and fulfilling work. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Luke sees writing as his superpower. He uses writing to work through his problems and ideas. How do you keep your own career energized? – Handling multiple projects and pushing forward on 3 or 4 parts of his career at the same time. What do you do away from technology? – Luke enjoys spending a lot of time with his family. He is a keen cyclist, enjoys mountain biking, video games and photography.   (31.57) FINAL CAREER TIP Find your own convictions. Don't always follow the crowd.   Look for common assumptions and opinions that you believe may be wrong or no longer valid. Study them and see if they are correct. If they are not, challenge them. This is a great way to discover new things, stretch your mind and change things up.     BEST MOMENTS (10.52) – Luke - "Being prepared to take considered risks will take your career in interesting directions." (20.11) – Luke - "Building software for specific professions is a huge market just waiting to be tapped." (28.44) – Luke - "Use writing to work through your problems and ideas. Writing things down clarifies everything." (32.18) – Luke - "Explore your unconventional opinions in-depth. Doing so enables you to come up with ideas no one else has thought of yet."   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact   Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – Luke Kanies Luke Kanies is a design and strategy-oriented advisor, speaker, writer and the founder of Puppet, a company helping to define the future of software.   He has a number of interests, including software productivity, business strategy and the inclusion of more people in the software revolution.   CONTACT THE GUEST – Luke Kanies Luke Kanies can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/lkanies LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukekanies/ Website: https://lukekanies.com