Reading, soaking up knowledge, and forever chasing my curiosity leads me to act like a collector. I collect quotes and squirrel them away in notes and journals with the hope they will soak into my mind.

In September I’ll have been with Dropbox for 7 years. This week I reflect on some conversations I've had around why I'm still here and keep showing up.

I’ve been reflecting on our crit processes and how we might continue to improve them to grow one another and the quality of our work. I wanted to share more about how I think about Crit and share more directly why I show up the way I do during crit.

We’ve had a lot of discussions and presentations lately across Dropbox with a focus on having a growth mindset. We have spent a bit less time on what it means to really develop this style of thinking and how to develop it within yourself.

We’re given frameworks, training, and more about how to provide effective, actionable feedback. However, I’ve generally found that we don’t spend as much time on how to really hear feedback, process it effectively, and then act on it over time.

How often do you brag about your own accomplishments to your manager or skip? How often do you provide status updates on your projects? In other words how often are you truly making a dedicated effort to manage up?

One important belief is that you’re not born with good taste. It’s not inherent to the individual. However, it is highly informed the environment in which you live. Luckily for us, our environment and our behaviors are entirely within our control! 

The perceived value of art is not in its physical utility, but it’s psychological and social utility. Great art pushes the boundaries of current conversations in our society.