One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
It's sad that I can't find it, but there was an article/interview with a lone Google engineer who explained how he was doing the grunt work of keeping Google Scholar alive and making it 1% better. A maintenance task that is not in the top 100 priorities of his company. Meanwhile his colleagues were launching hype soon retired new products and chasing promotions.
He chose instead to make life a tiny bit easier for some of the best minds of our time to produce their work.
That I find inspirational: forget your ego and make an impact by removing obstacles for others to do their best work.
It's sad that I can't find it, but there was an article/interview with a lone Google engineer who explained how he was doing the grunt work of keeping Google Scholar alive and making it 1% better. A maintenance task that is not in the top 100 priorities of his company. Meanwhile his colleagues were launching hype soon retired new products and chasing promotions.
He chose instead to make life a tiny bit easier for some of the best minds of our time to produce their work.
That I find inspirational: forget your ego and make an impact by removing obstacles for others to do their best work.
Love this! It puts me in mind of two of my favorite quotes from Lao Tzu