Career Rocket Episode #3: Reid Bryant
“Embrace the opportunity to suck at new things” - Reid Bryant
Leader in data science and optimization
The goal for my Career Rocket series is to make an impact on people’s careers by sharing wisdom from successful folks with high integrity. You can also listen to the podcast of this post hosted in collaboration between DUMRC and Empathetic Machines which dives deeper into the topics covered here.
Target audience for this episode: aspiring folks ranging from just starting their careers through senior managers in digital analytics and optimization
Today’s guest Reid Bryant: my friend Reid who is ridiculously smart, kind, and authentic. He was the first person I ever hired for which I did not have a specific open role. However, he was so technically smart, driven, and grounded that I convinced our company at the time to make a spot for Reid. Read through this and listen to the podcast. He is so insightful and I know you will enjoy what he has to say!
Professional background
Liberal arts UNC business administration background
Worked in real estate finance type roles for 7 years out of undergrad
NC State friends joke that he went back to NC State's Institute for Advanced Analytics to get a technical masters degree in order to be able to do something useful.
Worked at two smaller digital experience consulting firms for 6 years with most of that experience focused on building and leading teams in a VP of Analytics type role
Currently at Red Hat serving as a Director of Marketing Analytics
Personal background
Married to the perfect woman, proud dad to two crazy but awesome kiddos
Big UNC basketball fan
Roughly, how many people have you managed over your career? Current and past totals about 40.
For each career stage, please share the most important advice you can offer people in the field of digital analytics.
Entry level: 1-3 years
Focus on breadth of training, rather than depth, especially early in a career. David Epstein in his book, Range, would suggest that early specialization suffers from marginalization as others eventually catch up. Lasting success requires thinking that does not fall back on specific prior experience--especially when both you and the world are changing so fast. There is also the risk that specialization could turn out to be specialization in the wrong thing. Tip: give yourself the freedom to fail
Mid career: 3-5 years
Understand your 'value over replacement' related to peers in the workplace, grounded by the goals you have for your career. For example, you may be technically adept and want to stay in a technical track. That may be your highest VOR. For me, every year people are entering the analytics space who are already better architects and programmers than I am. So I had to figure out my strengths, and I believe they are in providing context to connect analytical projects to business value in addition to hiring, growing a capable team. So even though many peers in past companies were focused on becoming experts in things like data engineering and becoming proficient in statistical programming or martech tools, I knew that I had to let go of my desire to excel at everything and invest my time in specific ways. Everyone will have a different VOR based on their gifts and goals. Determine your strengths and invest time intentionally to build them. Give other less aligned requests a graceful 'no thanks.’
Senior level: 6+ years
The paradox of success is that what made you successful in the past won't likely make you successful in a new role with larger responsibilities. Many cling to the tools that made them successful and find comfort in not stepping outside familiar territory. Know that someone put you in that role with great intention, and it likely has more to do with your potential rather than specific performance of a given task.
Mgr/Directors:
Never forget that the higher you go the less connected you become with daily work. Your team is likely solving very specific problems that you may not even know exist. It is very easy to set up a culture where subordinates are instructed to say No. Firm boundaries are easy to communicate and enforce but that can often limit growth. Creating a culture that makes it easy for employees to have the freedom to say 'yes' is hard. It requires hiring well and a huge amount of trust. But that empowerment will grow team capabilities faster and create a motivated workforce. Do not forget to balance that freedom with accountability.
Looking ahead, where do you think are the upcoming hot spots in digital careers, specifically around analytics and/or optimization?
Data architects and data engineering are under-appreciated by the general business, but very valuable to data analytics leaders and their teams. They will be more than fairly rewarded for the efficiency that they bring to analysts and data scientists.
I also am continually impressed with functional experts on search, email, and web who also utilize data well. Individuals that have those niche skill sets, when combined with a general understanding of analytics, should have bright futures ahead of them.
Looking back, please share what you feel have been the biggest drivers of your successful career?
I remain committed to discovering opportunities. One reason I wanted to go to Brooks Bell because no one in optimization was really competent in data science. No one was talking about inflated error rates for tests with multiple variations. No one was super proficient in multivariate test design or analysis. When you are bringing something new, you get noticed. But you have to find the right opportunity and expect resistance.
You must foster emotional intelligence. So many people leave a trail of destruction in their wake, not because they have poor intentions, but because they lack awareness of how their actions impact others negatively. Gain an understanding of what others need from any given interaction with you based on where they are emotionally. I am not perfect, but I am committed to growth. Tip: read books “Dare to Lead,” “Daring Greatly,” and “Crucial Conversation.”
What are habits you have built over the years that have contributed to your success?
Being open to change. I have been on the delivery side of agencies, the sales side, the executive leadership team, and an individual contributor. I now work within a company to manage marketing analytics in the B2B space. Embrace the opportunity to suck at something new. And embrace the relationships that result from taking risks.
Surround yourself with people that will challenge you. Listen to them. Don't get caught up in your own echo chamber. This is really easy to do these days when social media is presenting you, algorithmically, things they think you'll agree with. I read a quote somewhere that said if you aren't at least a little bit embarrassed by who you were five years ago, you are not growing enough. You are best served when you can engage with those that will gracefully disagree with you.
What does living abundantly mean to you?
The One Thing book would suggest that we must first define a life purpose and how work contributes to give us space to live abundantly. We all juggle balls for work, family, friends, health, etc. Most folks view all those balls as glass, but in reality if done well work is rubber. Self prioritization and contingency plans put into place by leadership should make it like a rubber ball. No group should succeed or fail on the back of one person. If you drop the ball a colleague should be there to catch it when it bounces back up. If we acknowledge this freedom it should put us in a position to live a life that is more than work.
If there was one thing you would like to tell someone earlier on in their career that you wish someone had told you, what would it be?
No one really knows anything, be careful of those that act like they have it all figured out.
Sliding in a second one. Slow down, these are the good old days. If you are going to be there, be there.