To truly be inspired for great work, you need to know that you’re making a difference. That you’re putting a meaningful dent in the universe. That you’re part of something that’s making a difference and that your role in that something is significant.
This doesn’t have to be grand at all. You don’t have to be looking for the cure for cancer. It could be done by a waitress at a neighborhood cafe that’s the gathering point of local artists. The key is that your efforts would be missed, your customers would have a sense of loss, if you stopped doing what you’re doing.
If you’re void that sense of purpose, the pleasure in your work will eventually wane and ultimately feel hollow. I’ve lived that sensation more than once. Working with tools and techniques and even people that I enjoyed, but where the end did not justify the journey.
You can only hide in shadows of the circumstantial for so long before your passion begins to fade. You can only excuse your lack of impact on the world with “but it’s great money” or “at least we’re doing agile” or even “this way I get to use Rails” until the playlist of stories repeat and it just all sounds the same.
Remember that your time is limited. By the time you discover that you’ve been coasting on empty calories, the pale face staring you back in the mirror might be hard to recognize.
I remember waking up to such a face on day long ago and thinking “the world would have been no different if I had not been here the past six months”. That’s a terrible feeling of regret.
But the good story is that it’s never too late to do something about it. I’d give up a cozy working atmosphere and using tools I enjoyed if it meant having to do work that just didn’t matter. You should too.
Chris
on 02 Dec 08As usual – very insightful. David, you make my days better, more meaningful and more productive.
Patrick Henry
on 02 Dec 08Another perspective:
Make that dent in the universe with your family and the people you love.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking of your career as anything but something that enables you to live a happy life with your family and the people you love.
You weren’t born to press keys on keyboard. You were born of and to love.
nico
on 02 Dec 08“Nail hit straight on by Hammer; sunk below surface”
Please hire me! I’m clever, lazy, know how to write and how to fucking swear the crap out of any situation you put me in.
No really these thoughts have been with me for a long time. So far I’ve never been able to truly say I got there.
Ola Berg
on 02 Dec 08An Arthur Dent?
Marko
on 02 Dec 08No a Dentarthurdent :)
GeeIWonder
on 02 Dec 08I don’t really understand this post. First you say
This doesn’t have to be grand at all. You don’t have to be looking for the cure for cancer. It could be done by a waitress at a neighborhood cafe that’s the gathering point of local artists. The key is that your efforts would be missed, your customers would have a sense of loss, if you stopped doing what you’re doing.
Which I tend to agree with, and I think can be applied to almost every job well done.
Then you say:
If you’re void that sense of purpose, the pleasure in your work will eventually wane and ultimately feel hollow.
Doesn’t that have more to do with you, rather than your job, then?
Certainly if your only contribution, or identity, is a job you feel is worthless by any tangible measuring stick, I’d say it is.
Small jobs well done can do a lot of good. Money can do a lot of good. Time can do a lot of good. Caring can do a lot of good. Family can do a lot of good,
People going around challenging themselves and their peers to do make more ‘of an impact’ might do some good, or it might miss the point that the perceived lack of impact may lie as much in the observer as the observed, and be nothing more than a manifestation of narcissism or worse.
andy
on 02 Dec 08@GeelWonder – right on!
DHH
on 02 Dec 08GeelWonder, this is absolutely in the eye of the beholder. If you feel like you’re having a meaningful impact and making a significant contribution that will be sorely missed, then you’re set.
I’m taking about periods of my life where I didn’t feel like that. And where I tried to smoother that feeling with “but at least the tech is fun” or “I like the people I work with”. That strategy was merely a temporary way of suppressing the truth and when it finally emerged, I wish I hadn’t try to fight it.
I know too many people living the same delusion and I want to wake them up.
GeeIWonder
on 02 Dec 08An internal journey then. Gotcha, that meshes.
Tarus
on 02 Dec 08In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliott writes:
Do I dare Disturb the universe?
Freeman Dyson uses this as the basis for his autobiography Disturbing the Universe
It’s a great read. I was given a copy many years ago with the caveat that I had to read it, write something about it in the book and pass it on to another person. I have no idea where it is now.
llemirtrauts
on 02 Dec 08I feel this lack of making a difference everyday. Thanks for the wakeup.
Ernie
on 02 Dec 08Well said. I continually find myself staying long past a sense of usefulness in positions just because I like the people I work with. While there’s something to be said for that, at some point it does become necessary to go where you’ll actually accomplish something meaningful.
I’d go a step further and say that sometimes it isn’t enough just to know that your contribution would be missed by others if you weren’t there. Sometimes it’s about whether or not you’d miss making your contribution. If you wouldn’t, it’s time to move on.
Evan
on 02 Dec 08Devil’s advocate type question, do you think it’s possible for everybody to do this?
Pancho Pepe
on 02 Dec 08Interesting thought, as it does align with the millenarian traditions of the east, where everything we do IS making not only a “dent”, but actually “building” this universe of ours… and all based on the same “principle” of fulfilling one’s mission…
So yeah, let’s go dent it, bang it, shape it and bend it – as that is the fastest way to add “value” to it…
Namaste.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach
on 02 Dec 08That reminds me of what my mom told me while growing up (and what I now tell my kids).
I had asked her, what’s the meaning of life?
and she responded
“The meaning of life is that you live, you die, but before you die, you’ve made the world a better place for something. It could be your friends, it could be your family, it could be your town, it could be the country…the fact is, the world is now a better a place because you were in it.”
Love that idea.
Data points, Barbara
Bob
on 02 Dec 08@Evan—I would think that it is possible, in varying degrees, to do this if a person only cares. Sadly, what you see a lot is people just not caring either about themselves or about others. We’re not talking about moving mountains here, well, we’re not talking about ONLY moving mountains.
This is one reason I am trying to get more involved with the Ruby and Rails community in different ways (well, Rails mostly right now). I want to continue to enjoy what I am doing right now, so why not try and help others in that areas or do things in that area.
Eh.
meMyself&I
on 02 Dec 08This is so true – but I think one should go even further. Because in the long run we are all dead and the earth will kiss the sun someday – no being can ever make a difference other than adding some negative entropy; which is great! But imho nothing to be smug about. Use and enjoy your right to be happy! There is nothing to feel bad about making no difference ;-)
Evan
on 02 Dec 08@meMyself&I:
Yep – scale out far enough, and nothing seems to make a difference. I think that’s one of the hardest ideas to wrestle with. Where’s it best to set the scope for your personal worldview?
ara.t.howard
on 02 Dec 08The reality is that the only lasting path to fulfillment is by helping other people, including but not limited to your friends and family. The challenge in tech isn’t being able to do this, it’s being able to perceive it.
Jamie Phelps
on 02 Dec 08This sounds a lot like the sentiment expressed in Caedmon’s Call’s “Bus Driver.”
Derrick
on 02 Dec 08Right on David. Coincidentally I bumped into this article on “rustout” and doing more fulfilling things:
http://inventuregroup.com/Documents/PDF/Volume%202%20No%203.pdf
Alan Roth
on 02 Dec 08Everyone makes a dent. Yours could simply be to be a bad example for others to avoid. If that is your call…then do it well!
Peter Edstrom
on 02 Dec 08Can I talk about the “Real World”?
Seriously though, this is a wonderful perspective to have. I agree entirely. You are, however, speaking from a position of wealth where this is an easy choice for you.
There are a lot of us that have limited options (especially with this economy!), and given the choice between making a difference, and feeding the family at home, I choose feeding the family.
It isn’t glamorous or fun, but sometimes a greater purpose has to take a back seat to immediate and “real” needs.
Mislav
on 02 Dec 08I disagree with the popular notion here in the comments that “everyone is special” and that we’re making something meaningful with our lives just by doing something that anyone can do: breathing and reproducing.
David was pretty clear with his post—it was about our careers, about our work and sense of accomplishment.
Having a Thanksgiving dinner or going to a ball game is nice, but isn’t “something that’s making a difference”. It’s more likely that what we do besides that can be significant.
Ernie
on 02 Dec 08@Peter: Then you have chosen to make the well-being of your family the difference you make. There’s not an ounce of shame in that. The important thing is to derive satisfaction from that knowledge. Your example as a provider may inspire one of your children to do something even more world-changing. All legacies start somewhere.
Gaveen
on 02 Dec 08Yesterday morning I woke up to find myself in the state that you described. I’ve been waking up to that for many months. I needed to break off. Stop doing stuff that would make me missed by others (because I’d put up with it), instead of what or how I did. I needed to stop being exploited, and to be who I am as a techy. I’d rather be remembered by my work.
Today I’m staying late from last night, thinking over a lot of things after thoughtful discussions with beloved ones.
And you David, nailed it. I had already decided to quit from what I’m doing (and have been doing for couple of employees) and go my own way. This post made me feel more comfortable. Thanks for the inspiration as always.
XR
on 02 Dec 08As I remove the barrel of the shotgun from mouth… Thanks David, just in time!
Mike
on 02 Dec 08This captures the thoughts that a lot of people must have during their careers – great stuff and a timely reminder.
David you should go into politics in the future. You’re an engineer and have an inate affinity with the truth and a desire to solve problems. There are too many lawyers and PR people in positions of power… we (the human race) could do with some decent coders organising things for a change, and you’re a sincere guy who can speak to people (or at least you come across that way and that’s perhaps good enough :)), you’d get plenty of votes.
I hope you do it in the future and make a huge dent as a result… :-)
Tartangeek
on 02 Dec 08Wonderful post!! the sentence
I remember waking up to such a face on day long ago and thinking “the world would have been no different if I had not been here the past six months”. That’s a terrible feeling of regret.
is very true!! Love the work you guys do. All the best
Alex
on 03 Dec 08Hello everybody! I just have to say that i agree with you David. Sometimes in our lives we just be passengers but there´s a time that we have to stop in being a passenger and take the control of our lives, whatever if can be in work, personal live and in the way that we face the live. When we stop to live for live, we learn a lot of things and we discover that the life is simple and beautiful. See ya”
Dave Smay
on 03 Dec 08Well said, David. That’s a problem so many of us have, do or will face, and I can definitely say it’s something I’m facing currently. After looking over some of the other commenters, it looks like many of us are rowing the same boat.
Nathan Youngman
on 03 Dec 08Thanks David, an encouraging post when I’m downing in PHP or VBA instead of working with Rails. It’s not all about the tools…
aunt_jemimah
on 03 Dec 08Oh good lord, is there no end to the bullshit on here. You ninny’s need to toughen up and ‘get real’ to the fact that ~20,000 people starved to death today. Who gives a fuck about your smug contentment and search for ‘meaning’?
Roderick
on 03 Dec 08Damn! Good post! You’ve been hanging out with Anthony Robbins again?
Devan
on 03 Dec 08Great words…Permission to print off and paste on my wall above my screen??
Rob Chant
on 03 Dec 08Rock’n’roll! I couldn’t agree more.
Hari Rajagopal
on 03 Dec 08May I say,
It is not about what you do but how, that matters.
Ryan
on 04 Dec 08I often find myself designing projects that I will never one day be using, so why create it? “Because it pays the bills”
Although this is a crappy outlook to have into your creations, I want to work. Being a designer and designing projects (although they aren’t something I’d use) still further my knowledge of design understanding of life.
I have to admit though, I find it very difficult to build up a passion to create a brilliant user experience for something I’ll never use.
This is why I started doing personal projects.
I’ve seen the pale face that could have been dead for the last 6 months, without a trace. But I’m not giving up, I really want to find my passion and what change I can make in the world.
Cheers.
Drew
on 04 Dec 08@ aunt_jemimah – I bet those 20,000 people who starved to death would have deeply appreciated the actions of someone whose drive to improve the world had “made a difference” in their ability to feed themselves. If those of us lucky enough to have the resources to make the world a better place don’t take action, who will?
The danger, of course, is that one person’s “better world” can be another’s “hell on earth”. Question your assumptions and proceed with care.
Gaurav Sharma
on 05 Dec 08Everyone in the market is priced, generally, in correlation with what they’re offering. This isn’t a digital thing. You’re not either making a difference or not making a difference. Everyone who is getting paid for something is, generally, making a difference, often in the best way they know how.
Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I know blogging isn’t your full-time job, but these posts sometimes sound like rehashed PG or Joel posts, except those guys actually make more compelling arguments than “I made a difference, you can too”. This isn’t an intended insult, it’s just that it’d be nicer if you expand more upon the “how” than the “what”.
By all means try inspiring others – but I’d recommend focusing on informing by educating rather than encouraging people to take simple crazy leaps of faith they may not be well positioned at this time to deliver on.
softprops
on 06 Dec 08It’s nice to know that some people can see their work as more than just a job and it’s nice to know that some people enjoy their work enough to inspire others to try and do the same.
Is sad when people criticize something positive. Perhaps in doing that they feel more positive about themselves.
I can emphasize with “the world would have been no different if I had not been here the past six months” because I’ve been part of projects where that time was measured in years. Even if your app/endeavor does not succeed, if you follow your passion and enjoy what you do you can say it was not a waste because you create positive memories.
I think there needs to be more people like this in the field who are more concerned with making users happy and having fun while doing it rather than how much profit they can make for their bosses or to extend their vacation.
Jacob
on 08 Dec 08That’s one of the struggles I’ve seen as a student. I could either work for some me-three social media start-up that’s destined to fail but love the Agile, Rails, nice chairs, big monitors, friendly people, etc.
Or I could work for a giant corporation doing something real with painfully overcomplicated platforms and a bureaucratic, technophobic management.
Sorry, but companies like 37Signals are hard to find.
This discussion is closed.