A post in which I waffle randomly and tangentially about working.
Adieu
So, after 10 years of solid working I decided to take a short break at the end of last year.
Being in the (admittedly very lucky) financial position of not having to dive into somewhere else immediately, I went and made the most of it. Cue visiting friends unseen in ages, a bit of travel, putting people up to stay, working through those long neglected todo lists. If you're ever in the situation where you get that chance, would certainly recommend it.
But as much as all that I wanted to take a step back and think what I like to do next work wise - and hence what I really wanted from work.
Ponos
Ponos was the Ancient Greek word for work. Alternative translations: Pain. Labour. Toil...
Ancient Greeks. (photo creative commons from Flickr)
Now today of course it's slightly different for a lot of people. Software development's extremely lucky in that it's one of a few professions that can genuinely be fun, interesting and challenging, beyond the material reward. In fact many carry on and work for free on open source or private projects just for the enjoyment of it. I'm not sure how many accountants do that...
Of course, in corporate environments this fun aspect can get hidden under the red tape on occasions. But generally it's something you can, and should, still get passionate about. Overall it's a damn good career to be in really.
It's all about the money, honey...
This probably seems quite obvious - the main reason to work is to pay that mortgage, no? And the minor stuff, like food etc. Unless you've got enough investments to live off, win the lottery or marry a millionaire, you'll need to work for this reason.
But then I quit a highly paid job. This may have been slightly bonkers, given the economic climate. I was certainly valued, no doubt there - even offered an increase to stay. But the roles, priorities and people of the company had changed over the course of the last year. Hey, it turns out it's not all about the money.
So what is it you really look for in a job, once you're over a certain salary?
Futurama had it's career chips to remove all that hassle...
The essentials
There's a few things you always need. Or want at least. I guess the work equivalent of the bottom rows of Maslow's triangle.
- Money - Yes, we all need it. Enough to live comfortable, ideally.
- Location - To commute or not to commute is the main question. Some people like that time on a train. Or prefer to live close by. Or even relocating. Personally speaking, Cardiff is a lovely place to live though. Always realised living here limits choices slightly more than London (of which have had several offers from companies in the past), but the quality of life is more important for now.
- People - Generally speaking, you come to realise most people are nice. Certainly in our industry. A great team can make up for an awful lot, and help mask any other deficiencies. The last place we were all lucky - an awesome group who'd been together for a long time. Having others around is one of the reasons I decided freelancing wasn't really for me.
Passion
Beyond those basics, you need something that motivates you when working. There's a lot of nonsense management exercises that happen in large companies, but one of the few interesting ones was around this area. Different things, unsurprisingly, motivate different people. Some of the most common ones were (vaguely remembering here...):
- Work itself - a pride in doing a job well, craftsmanship
- Respect of peers - recognition, the status that you know your stuff
- Creativity - problem solving and imagination
- Challenge - are you being stretched
- Growth - carrying on learning, having a career path
- Stability - safety, insurance, even the daily routine
- Personal life - does it give you a chance to have a full life outside work
- Power - influence you have within (and even outside) the company
- Salary - not just in monetary terms, but associated status for some
Where your focus is changes as you go through life though. So if you've just had a child, you're far more likely to be after job security and money for a bit. If you're younger and fancy free you my be more about the life balance and future prospects.
Management roles (especially senior) when we did these sessions tended towards power and salary often, while developers often like intellectual challenge. Interestingly this mismatch being a reason why bad managers sometimes can't motivate teams - as they're projecting what would motivate themselves onto others.
Work needs to give you a chance to use whatever motivates you in life generally.
Turns out personally I'm motivated mainly by creativity & problem solving, with a side order of respect for being good at it. And enough personal life not to be a total workaholic.
Work on stuff that matters
At a conference last year, Tim O'Reilly was urging developers to work on "
stuff that matters" (one of his main themes in 2009 generally). Now of course that definition will vary from person to person, but it struck a chord in amongst all the tech-oriented sessions.
There's a lot of extremely smart people in this industry. But it's not always put to the best use for the wider good.
I've got a funny background. By some chance almost my entire family are in the "caring professions" or public sector. Nurses, doctors, social workers, teachers. There's even a nun in there. Some branches have the Catholic notion of doing "good" work. Barring a couple of legal types, I was one of the only people to go into the corporate world. And a financial company to boot... Software development is a curious thing though - which sector you work in doesn't actually make such a difference. The challenges are always roughly similar.
Still, having taken the corporate shilling, I preferred to work if at all possible on something that had some kind of vaguely worthwhile element. Most companies have varying levels of Corporate Social Responsibility that aim for this. Especially if there's a side effect on the bottom line... So after a while I ended up with one of my hats being in charge of accessibility of the web applications for disabled people (and usability more generally). Still working in the area I was interested in, but with some feeling that it was doing some good.
There's no need to always work for a charity, or something equally altruistic. Anything that helps the wider social community in some small way, even in large companies.
Anyway
I think this has been a rambling wander on a theme. Most blog posts with be a little more focussed (maybe...). Heck, it'll probably be some meme about favourite films or some such.
But it's worth having a short think now and again about why you're working and what you're after. You know, before you retire.
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