An interview that Patty McCord did to publicize her new book bubbled up in a social media stream. A few friends commented about the powerful truths she was telling, so I followed the link.

Here are some excerpts from that Patty McCord interview which resonated with me:

…we’re gonna be your paternalistic employer for the rest of your life and provide you with career ladders and promotions forever. It hasn’t been true for 30 years, and it’s certainly not true now.

be unabashedly honest about the future of work

I know what makes a great career: accomplishments, not your job title, not your tenure.

HR should be honest enough to tell employees that they have done or built this amazing thing and that XYZ company “will be a great company to be from.”

Let’s stop talking about forever, and let’s start talking about specific problems within timeframe wrappers

I left the corporate world for consulting because boredom was making me miserable. The hypocrisy made me want to scream. Individual development plans and career progression ladders that extend forever inspired no one. I knew from listening to Prince that “forever is a very long time”. I couldn’t bear to wait that long for the next interesting project.

My inner voice whispers “You’re not an “A” player”. Working with them to solve interesting problems is a joy. I had the pleasure of being on a few teams that built some awesome internal products. The issues arise when folks have solved the problem and start looking for busy work to stay engaged. That almost never works out well. Scaling and maintaining things demands a different mindset and level of enthusiasm.

They aren’t Netflix, web-scale level achievements, but I have accrued accomplishments. My clients have had favorable feedback about the projects and our work together. I’ve also worked for employers and companies that are great places to be from.

What accomplishments have you accrued? What great places are you from?