Key Takeaways From 2022

As we close out the year, it's important to take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned this year.

So here are three of my key takeaways from 2022 that I hope can help others grow and improve in their careers (as I believe they have mine):

1. The importance of user feedback: Large projects can come with inherent risks, and one of the biggest mistakes we can make is building too much without getting user feedback. This year has taught me the value of finding ways to accelerate the testing of product hypotheses and getting feedback from our users.

2. Leveraging failed projects: It's hard to process the news of a project being killed, but one key element that can help is finding ways to leverage all of that work. This can help ensure that all the hard work and effort put into a project isn't wasted.

3. Fighting for feedback: Promotion processes in big tech companies can be tough slogs, and it's common for them to fall through. But this year has reminded me of the importance of fighting for feedback, especially when it's a "no." How can we grow to the next level without knowing what we need to improve? We often learn the most in the challenging years, and this year was challenging! I am excited for 2023, where I can take these key learnings as we move into the new year.

Do you have any other lessons you've learned this year that you'd like to share?