I’m Frustrated with Working
How I feel about my current work experience is effectively captured in the above image: empty, colorless and clinical. Before I expand on this, however, I’d like to provide you with some context.
I started my career as a software engineer in the early ‘90s. Living in a small state in the US, I was extremely fortunate to land a job at a hungry startup company experiencing its initial growth surge.
The energy and excitement around the office were infectious. The concept of an 8-hour day was irrelevant in this chaotic, addictive environment. Each day, we worked as long as it took to fix critical issues and push out new features.
The software we were developing had insane reliability and performance requirements, expecting to sustain 24x7 operation while processing thousands of transactions a second. Financial penalties for downtime were as high as $10,000 per minute.
When a live system was experiencing an issue, a rally cry reverberated through the cubicle walls. Lacking any modern form of digital communication, managers scurried about, locating engineers with a thirst for problem solving.
After evicting occupants from the nearest conference room, our team of troubleshooters prepared to…
