Information Technology Dark Side

This is not a sarcastic post. I mean every word of it just as it’s written.

It might be easier to explain why I like my job by telling you what it hasn’t got, rather than what it has:

• No training program
• No formalized advancement track
• No mentoring program
• No pension
• No 401(k)
• No performance management plan or annual review

That’s right. Not having these things makes me like my job more. Lots more. I’m still thinking about all the reasons why, but somehow these things are tightly interwoven with the things that make me feel like we really kick butt.

Here are a few ways this impacts the way we roll:

1. We train ourselves. If we don’t know how to do something, we do a dive (a time-bound exploration of different ways to do something) that is powered by Google (who knows everything) and experimentation. We try out the various approaches in limited scope, decide which is best, and then teach everyone else. It’s a fun way to learn, and we only really do it when we need to, just in time.
2. Not having a formal advancement track eliminates things to worry about. I can be a developer forever. In fact, since there’s no advancement track, I probably will. So it’s up to me to be very good at what I do NOW, not worry about showing my boss that I’m somehow skilled enough at something I’m not currently responsible for to be able to do it in the future. Just writing that sentence makes me appreciate how simple my work life is.
3. No year end panic. No long hours documenting all the great stuff I did and tiptoeing around the moments of stupidity. No obsessing over how this word or that word will be perceived or used against me. We actually get to enjoy the holidays.
4. No pension, no 401(k) – only stock options that might have some value some day if the company is successful. There is only one thing that matters right now – making the company successful.

I like this environment. No, I love it. It’s full of the harsh realities of life, with no fake cushioning created by the artificial incentives corporations often wrap themselves in. We doit, or we fail. It’s brutal, and it’s awesome.

Stumble it!