Just code dumb shit to impress your friends
In my day, this meant video games… Can I use DOS’s 2D graphics primitives to render something like the Windows Maze screensaver? Or dare I say Doom or Quake? While the teacher lectured us on linked lists, or something… we snickered as we made silly screensavers in the back.
Eventually, I got a job and a career. As a “grownup” I saw the different career ladders thrown up around me. I should focus on my impact, the higher-ups said. Deliver the project. Meet my metrics. So I can get that promotion or raise. While these days, I wear a hoodie and a conference T instead of suit and tie, the game of getting credit, impressing bosses, and avoiding blame hasn’t changed much.
You get wrapped up in this dumb game. You lose site of the craft, instead it becomes about silly externalities. Concerns like “will I get credit” or “can I avoid blame”. You worry if you can keep up with the cool, new, trendy thing (AI, blockchain, whatever) to continue to have a viable career.
Every 6 months, like the weather, some new drama threatens to derail you. A new peer comes in ready to shit all over your work, eager to take over so they can have an impact. You hear a rumor of your department getting outsourced. A new project threatens to make your work area obsolete. A reorg. A management shakeup. A deferred promotion. Layoffs.
