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The Most Critical Career Mistake You Can Make

Summary

In this episode of Developer Tea, host Jonathan Cutrell explores the concept of career agency and identifies what he considers the most critical mistake a developer can make in their professional life: getting out of the driver’s seat of their own career. He argues that while people often worry about specific decisions like job changes or career path switches, the fundamental error is relinquishing control over one’s professional direction to others or to circumstance.

Cutrell begins by defining what a healthy, thriving career looks like—one where individuals get what they want without compromising widely accepted standards of health (physical, relational, etc.) and experience growth, challenge, agency, and respect. He emphasizes that the core of a successful career is maintaining control and making intentional decisions about one’s professional trajectory.

The central metaphor of the episode is the “driver’s seat” of one’s career. Cutrell explains that getting out of this seat means either allowing someone else to drive or having no one in control—both scenarios that can lead to professional dissatisfaction and lack of direction. He provides a litmus test for listeners: examine why you might fear losing your job. Is it because you feel undeserving of your role, or believe your employers hold power over your career that you don’t possess yourself?

The host encourages regular reflection on whether you’re exerting the agency you can over your career, emphasizing that this doesn’t mean becoming domineering or ungrateful. Rather, it means taking responsibility for your professional path, understanding how your current role fits into your broader career goals, and making decisions based on what you truly want rather than simply following others’ suggestions or going with the flow.

Cutrell concludes by reinforcing that since you care most about your career, you must be the one in the driver’s seat. He frames mistakes as opportunities to take responsibility and regain control, encouraging listeners to resource themselves to understand their career desires and act on their own behalf to create fulfilling professional lives.

Recommendations

Communities

  • Developer Tea Discord — A community where listeners can discuss episode topics, including what it means to have agency over your career. The host invites listeners to join at developertea.com/discord to continue the conversation about career control and professional development.

Tools

  • Around — A video call platform designed for remote teams with a lightweight, unobtrusive interface that floats on your desktop. The host mentions it’s perfect for code reviews, pair programming, or daily standups, with features to reduce video call fatigue like automatic background cropping and noise reduction.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introduction to career mistakes and the episode’s purpose — Jonathan Cutrell introduces the episode’s focus on the most critical career mistake developers can make. He explains that while all careers involve mistakes, some have longer effects than others, and he aims to both warn listeners about this critical error and provide hope that it’s recoverable. The host frames the discussion within his show’s mission to help developers find clarity, perspective, and purpose in their careers.
  • 00:01:39 — Defining a healthy and thriving career — Cutrell establishes what constitutes a healthy career—getting what you want without compromising physical, relational, or other health standards. He expands this to thriving careers, which involve growth, challenge, agency, respect from peers, and markers like leadership. The host poses the foundational question: “Do you feel in control of your own career?” This sets up the discussion of agency as central to career success.
  • 00:05:08 — Revealing the most critical career mistake — After the sponsor segment, Cutrell directly states the most critical career mistake: getting out of the driver’s seat of your career. He explains this metaphor means either allowing someone else to drive your career or having no one in control. The host emphasizes that no one else can be as focused on your career as you are, since only you have subconscious thoughts about what you want from life and work.
  • 00:07:20 — Litmus test for career agency — Cutrell provides a practical test to determine if you’re in the driver’s seat of your career. He asks listeners to examine why they might fear losing their job—is it because they feel undeserving of their role or believe employers hold power over their career that they themselves lack? These questions help illuminate whether you have control over your professional path or have ceded it to others.
  • 00:09:37 — Taking responsibility and regaining control — The host clarifies that being in the driver’s seat doesn’t mean becoming domineering or ungrateful—you can be both grateful for your current role and in control of your career. He encourages regular reflection on whether you’re exerting the agency you can over your career, framing mistakes as opportunities to take responsibility. Cutrell emphasizes that you must act on your own behalf rather than simply following others’ suggestions or going with the flow.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2021-08-18T07:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:11:32

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] We’re all going to make mistakes in our careers.

[00:00:05] Some are going to have longer effects than others.

[00:00:08] In today’s episode, I want to warn you about the most critical mistake that you could make.

[00:00:18] And I also want to give you a sense of hope that even if you have made this mistake already,

[00:00:25] there is a way out.

[00:00:27] My name is Jonathan Cotrell.

[00:00:28] You’re listening to Developer Tea.

[00:00:30] My goal on this show is to help driven developers like you find clarity, perspective, and purpose

[00:00:35] in their careers.

[00:00:37] And I want you to take a moment and try to imagine what the most critical mistake you

[00:00:44] could make would be.

[00:00:46] Some people think that the most critical mistake is choosing a particular job over another

[00:00:55] one.

[00:00:56] Or another common answer to this might be choosing to depart the individual contributor

[00:01:05] path and to join the management path.

[00:01:09] Another example might be quitting a stable job to start your own company.

[00:01:16] And still another example might be the inverse of that.

[00:01:20] Never quitting that job to begin with.

[00:01:24] All of these answers could be partially true, but there’s a bigger thing at play.

[00:01:32] There’s a bigger mistake that you can make that could precipitate some of the things

[00:01:37] that we’ve already mentioned.

[00:01:39] Before we talk about the mistake, let’s talk about what a healthy career looks like.

[00:01:45] When we say healthy, generally what we mean by this is you’re essentially getting what

[00:01:53] you want out of your career.

[00:01:56] And it’s not at the detriment of some kind of widely accepted standards of health.

[00:02:03] For example, you’re not spending every waking moment in losing sleep and compromising your

[00:02:09] physical health, you’re not compromising your relational health, you’re able to fulfill

[00:02:16] your responsibilities outside of work and that kind of thing.

[00:02:20] But when we think about a thriving career, we go beyond that and we look for things like

[00:02:26] growth, challenge, we look for things like agency and respect from our peers.

[00:02:37] We might look for markers like leadership.

[00:02:40] If you want to be leading in a field or you want to be leading people, a healthy career

[00:02:47] would be on a trajectory to do those things.

[00:02:51] So I want you to ask these questions of yourself.

[00:02:54] Do you feel in control of your own career?

[00:03:01] We’re going to talk about this mistake that you can make, the most critical mistake that

[00:03:06] you can make in your career, right after we talk about today’s brand new sponsor, Around.

[00:03:17] Today’s episode of Developer T is brought to you by Around.

[00:03:21] Those of us that listen to this show know that I am a remote worker.

[00:03:26] I have been for many years now and more people probably than ever are working remotely and

[00:03:32] that means that we’re on inevitably on more video meetings than ever.

[00:03:37] If you’re anything like me, I’m not a fan of video calls taking up my whole screen as

[00:03:42] well as the awful UX and fatigue that comes with those video calls.

[00:03:48] Around is a totally different and refreshing take on video calls because it’s designed

[00:03:53] for sessions where working together is the focus.

[00:03:56] They have this lightweight, unobtrusive interface that basically floats on your desktop.

[00:04:00] It frees up your screen so you can actually get work done together.

[00:04:04] It’s built specifically with modern remote teams in mind and is perfect for things like

[00:04:08] code reviews, pair programming, or daily stand ups.

[00:04:12] It’s a blast to use.

[00:04:13] It’s really fun.

[00:04:14] Around also has these really thoughtful features baked in to reduce video call fatigue.

[00:04:19] For example, automatic background cropping so you don’t have to worry about all of your

[00:04:24] bed wasn’t made this morning and you rushed to make it.

[00:04:27] You don’t have to worry about that.

[00:04:29] Anti-fatigue filters, AI camera framing, and noise reduction as well as playful touches

[00:04:34] that just make the overall experience a ton more enjoyable.

[00:04:38] After using Around, you’ll actually look forward to video meetings instead of wanting

[00:04:41] to avoid them.

[00:04:42] I encourage you to give it a spin with your team and let me know what you think.

[00:04:46] You can try it out for free at Around.co.

[00:04:50] And on a personal note, I want to say thank you to Around for building something specifically

[00:04:55] for remote teams.

[00:04:57] That means a lot to me.

[00:04:58] And thank you to Around, of course, for sponsoring today’s episode of Developer Team.

[00:05:08] So we’ve been talking about what it means to have a successful and healthy career with

[00:05:13] the most critical thing that you can kind of focus on as whether or not you have agency,

[00:05:19] whether you are able to make decisions about your career.

[00:05:24] And the inverse of that is the most critical career mistake that you can make.

[00:05:30] That is getting out of the driver’s seat.

[00:05:34] Getting out of the driver’s seat.

[00:05:36] I want you to really kind of capture this metaphor for a moment.

[00:05:42] Getting out of the driver’s seat of your career means that either you are allowing someone

[00:05:49] else to drive or no one is driving.

[00:05:54] Both can be calamitous.

[00:05:56] It’s possible that someone else would drive perfectly fine for you, but no one else is

[00:06:03] focused on your career like you are.

[00:06:07] No one else can be focused on your career like you can.

[00:06:13] You’re the only person that has, for example, subconscious thoughts about what you want

[00:06:18] in your life.

[00:06:20] And so it doesn’t make sense to give someone else the keys to your career and let them

[00:06:24] drive.

[00:06:26] It certainly doesn’t make sense to be entirely aimless and have no one driving.

[00:06:34] And if you are in the driver’s seat, what this allows you to do is, and again follow

[00:06:40] this metaphor, really take hold of where you’re going.

[00:06:46] Understanding that driving kind of requires a destination in some way.

[00:06:54] And yes, you can take detours, you can drive aimlessly, but ultimately if you are in charge,

[00:07:02] if you are the person that’s making decisions about your career, then it also makes sense

[00:07:07] for you to focus on where you’re headed.

[00:07:10] At the risk of sounding a little bit like a motivational speaker, I want to kind of

[00:07:14] scale back for a second and give you kind of a litmus test for whether you are in the

[00:07:20] driver’s seat of your career.

[00:07:22] First, are you afraid of losing your job?

[00:07:28] Now most people say yes to this question and that’s not really the litmus test that we’re

[00:07:33] talking about here because everyone is afraid of losing their job to some degree, probably

[00:07:40] at least a little bit, right?

[00:07:42] But the litmus test is instead to understand why.

[00:07:47] Why exactly are you afraid of losing your job?

[00:07:50] Do you believe that you are employed at a job in a role that you don’t necessarily deserve,

[00:07:58] for example?

[00:07:59] Do you believe that the people that are employing you have some power over your career that

[00:08:04] you don’t hold yourself?

[00:08:07] The answers to these questions should help illuminate whether or not you are in control

[00:08:12] of your own career.

[00:08:15] The question might be, how does your current role play into the bigger picture of your

[00:08:23] career goals?

[00:08:25] Again, these questions, they seem obvious, they seem kind of, again, motivational speaker

[00:08:32] might give you these questions.

[00:08:35] My goal here is to help you understand what it means to have agency over your own career

[00:08:41] decisions.

[00:08:43] If you’re in a role that you don’t feel suited for, you should be asking yourself why.

[00:08:50] What person in your career or what person in your life is kind of forcing your hand

[00:08:57] or is driving the car and why is it that you chose to get out of the driver’s seat?

[00:09:05] Is there something that you can do to take control of that path again?

[00:09:14] This doesn’t mean to suddenly become domineering or demanding.

[00:09:19] You can certainly still, you can be both grateful for your current role and in control of your

[00:09:27] career at the same time.

[00:09:31] This is not the picture of being an overbearing person.

[00:09:34] It’s not what I’m trying to suggest that you do.

[00:09:37] Instead, I want you to reflect regularly on whether you are exerting the agency over your

[00:09:46] career that you can.

[00:09:50] We recently talked about mistakes being an opportunity to take responsibility.

[00:09:56] I think this is exactly the kind of responsibility that you need to take to have that agency.

[00:10:06] To look at your mistakes or look at your opportunities and to actually act on your own behalf.

[00:10:16] To not simply go with the flow or take a position or a change in your position just because

[00:10:25] someone else tells you that they think it’s good for you.

[00:10:28] Instead, think about and resource yourself to understand what you want out of your own

[00:10:35] career.

[00:10:36] You are the person that will care the most about your career.

[00:10:40] That means that you need to be in the driver’s seat.

[00:10:43] Thanks so much for listening to today’s episode of Developer Tea.

[00:10:46] Thank you again to AROUND for sponsoring today’s episode.

[00:10:51] Go and check it out.

[00:10:53] Thanks so much for listening to today’s episode of Developer Tea.

[00:11:00] If you would like to join the Developer Tea Discord community, you can discuss everything

[00:11:05] we talked about on this episode and talk about, maybe even ask questions about what it means

[00:11:10] to have agency over your own career.

[00:11:13] That’s the kind of thing that we like to talk about.

[00:11:14] Head over to developertea.com slash discord.

[00:11:16] Thank you so much again and until next time, enjoy your tea.

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