The Path To Wisdom - Don't Learn From Your Mistakes

It's smarter to learn from other people's mistakes. Here's how.

I used to think that the folks with the most successful careers collected the most scars. These scars are proof of learning, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to learn, far from it.

Nearly 10 years ago, I thought I was ready to be promoted to Principal Engineer at Amazon. It’s the most difficult promotion at the company, and I knew navigating the process was just as important as technical skill.

I also knew the deck was stacked against me. Due to attrition, I was reporting to a manager who was too low-level to effectively support a promotion at that scope. There were no other Principal Engineers near my team, which meant getting the necessary feedback and support would be almost impossible.

But I thought I was different. I saw the significant headwinds and believed I would be the exception.

I wasn't.

That promotion cycle was a painful, drawn-out failure. It took another 4 years and 5 attempts before I finally succeeded. I learned a hard-earned lesson about the importance of organiza…