i copied this from the gemini
server at log.aviary.biz. i took that down, so here’s the poorly
formatted remnants rendered as if it were markdown!
it’s sunday, and that means i go back to the job tomorrow. well, not
really “back” because i was on call this weekend. this is my first full
day of wage work in over a week, and i’m not sure if i’m going to be
able to care. it’s my job to care; i’m told i should be an inspiring
leader and an example of technical excellence. sure, but for what end?
i’m not even talking about the fact that all my toil for salary serves
only to enrich the founders and investors manifold compared to my
princely pay. i’m not talking about whether the endeavor itself is
worthwhile or ethical. i’m talking about my daily experience at the job.
i’m talking about my relationships and my chances to exercise and learn.
i’m going to set aside the big picture questions for now. i need a
stable foundation. one of the great parts about my job is the fairly
wide latitude i get in choosing my work. i have to justify it, but
thankfully my peers take well to sound technical justification. i
learned a new concept a few months ago called, “system safety.” it’s an
outgrowth of risk management in low-probability, high-consequence
environments. think rockets, power plants, etc. although i wouldn’t
consider my job to be such a high stakes environment, i think we can use
the framework of system safety to make our service more reliable and our
lives less toilsome. i won’t explain the topic here, but if you’re
interested i recommend the first four chapters of this book:
Open
Access version of “Engineering a Safer World” by Nancy G. Leveson
i’ve introduced this concept to my teammates in little drips, but i
haven’t been too explicit for fear that it’s not “relevant enough” or
something. i think it is, though! i want my life to be full of
searching, of yearning with people that want the same. why not try it?
recently at the job i’ve been asking myself, “what would the company
want me to do?” instead, i will start asking myself, “what can i
convince the company to let me do?” i caught myself thinking that this
is selfish. my job don’t love me. why should i love it? instead, what if
i loved the people i worked with, and the things i did every day with
them?