Day 5 of 6

Write your sentence. Write it badly. Then send it to one person and ask if it sounds like you.

The structure: you are the person who does [specific thing] for [specific kind of situation or team].

Not a title. A shape. "She is the one who untangles legacy systems nobody else will touch." "He is the guy who makes slow things fast." "He is who you call when the thing is on fire at 2am and nobody can reproduce it."

None of those are impressive on their own. They are findable. When someone in a room says "we need somebody for this", a shape is what gets matched against. "Good developer" matches nothing.

Write it badly on purpose. This version is not the final one and it is not supposed to be. You will fix it over the next six months by noticing which version people repeat back to you.

Then send it to one person. A colleague, an old manager, someone who has seen you work. Ask one question: does this sound like me?

That second part is the exercise. A sentence you never said out loud is a note in a file.

What to do with the answer. If they hesitate, the line is too broad, and broad is the common failure. If they say "yes, but you also do X", you have found the version of yourself you are hiding, and X is worth a second line. If they repeat it back in slightly different words, use their words. They just did the edit for you.

The Line
The format
I am the person who ______________________
for ______________________.

Sent to:
What they said back:

Day 6 tomorrow. No action, just what the week bought you.

The Invisible Developer