This is a user guide on how to work with me. It is a document evolving with me and my career, so it is a leaving-breathing thing and likely incomplete. I update it frequently and would appreciate your feedback.
My Principles
Curiosity beats expertise
If you are curious, you can figure out anything and learn anything. Experts are only valuable in super-specific problems, and these problems are rare. I firmly believe and support that if you focus on asking the right questions, you can find the answers yourself or find the expert you need to ask for help and learn from. Either way, being curious beats being an expert in a specific thing.
Humans first
Happy, informed, and productive humans do fantastic work and build well-operating products. I like to work on teams that have a nice balance of maximizing the business but also personal growth, open and respectful collaboration, and do not value gatekeeping. I try to honor this myself.
Context awareness
Nothing that we do happens in a vacuum. In fact, making the right decisions is foremost about understanding the context in which we operate. This can be anything from technical to organization-wide, from understanding a problem that needs to be solved to providing a technical solution to policy constraints.
Mentor and Mentee
You are always a mentor and a mentee. In life and at work, you learn as you grow, and you teach and are taught by others regardless of their experience or level.
The ways I like to receive feedback
Direct, constructive feedback is much appreciated. I would rather have difficult conversations than unspoken things, so just be straight with me. Ι prefer receiving feedback face to face. Every feedback is a learning opportunity, so I would appreciate including examples and suggestions.
On execution: “I noticed you did X, which wasn’t optimal. Can you do this differently?
Things I struggle with
Unstructured, vague discussions, meetings, or projects that don’t have a clear intention. I like critical thinking, but being contrarian for its sake is soul-sucking. People not respecting time by either speaking too much or dominating a conversation. Sometimes, I struggle to ask for help, which is probably related to my recurring imposter syndrome. There are seasons in life and work when I should have communicated my need for help earlier. I am working on identifying those periods and acting accordingly.
Nuance and Errata
I love open-minded, warm conversations, and I like to feel included. I like brainstorming, but for subjects with which I am not that familiar, I need to reflect and come back. I value honesty, accountability, and transparency.
When I am asked to do something that feels vague, I ask a lot of questions to clarify what is important and what the requirements are. I like diagrams to visualize how things are connected. I like and want to brainstorm with others.
Ask assertive versus tell assertive. When you need to ask me to do something, ask me. I respond incredibly well to asking assertiveness (“Anastasia, can you help with X?”). I react poorly to being told what to do (“Anastasia, do X.”) I have been this way since I was a kid, and therapy has not helped.
When you say something complicated, I often repeat it, saying, “Let me tell you what I understand.” I have discovered that what is being said often is not what is being heard and sure what is understood.
I tend to talk over when I am discussing with others, but in my Mediterranean culture, this shows excitement and engagement. Over the years, I have learned to hold myself, but please tell me if you feel otherwise.
I love to start new things, but I often lose interest when I can mentally see how the thing will finish, which might be weeks or months before it is done. I solve this by splitting the problem into smaller problems and solutions and pairing with other humans.