my software engineering principles
Underpromise and overdeliver
Commit to fewer things, and deliver (or overdeliver) on these very few ones.
This is how you stand out - not by doing many things never better than average.
For the "commit to fewer things", I think I had a good help from these books: Essencialismo
and Os 7 Habitos das pessoas Altamente Eficazes.
Be an owner, not a renter
Don't complain: fix.
Dont ignore broken windows: mend them.
When it's really not you who can fix this, find the person that can.
Do you wonder what the best way to advance your career is? It's this approach.
Not sure if there's a book "teaching" this. But my mind works like this: wherever I invest my time, I want to see it progress, evolve, succeed...
I remember how I managed to articulate it that way. I was reading The Career Advice I Wish I Had, from Ali Spittel.
https://welearncode.com/career-advice/
And she mentions: "Find employers who want you to succeed".
While reading that I realized that it's also useful to invert that logic: "Find employers you want to see succeed".
At least in my case, this is the mindset that makes me embrace the ownership proposed by Gergely.