We find ourselves during interesting times. Unquestionably, the world went through some profound and meaningful changes lately. In other, less shaky news, I started blogging. I did so because I find it important, more so in these times, to reflect on past decisions, so that we make better, more responsible ones in the future. That being said, I can only speak from my own experience. So let's do that.
A Retrospective Runaround
Yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of my debut as a professional in the software industry. Not too long after I started, one of my then-colleagues would go on to tell me something that I still remember to this day. "Mihai...", he said, "when people talk about 'turning the big O' around here, they usually mean 'turning the big 3-0', or '4-0'". He sounded slightly concerned, probably because that day I had turned the "big" 2-0. To this day I still wonder what I was thinking back then. "You should be drunk in a pub right now!", another one of my colleagues demanded. I kept asking myself if what I was doing felt wrong to me. It always felt right. It still does.
Being passionate about something can make the things you say or do sound stupid. Who can say if they really are or not. At (not even) 20 years old, you can only hope you're making the right decision. Was turning my passion into my profession a gamble? Maybe. Was it necessary? Probably not. I was under no pressure to do it, financially, socially or otherwise. Could I have steered my life towards a different direction if things were to go sideways? Most likely. Sometimes things did go sideways, more or less. Despite all that, I kept feeling this weird itch. Call it drive, passion, curiosity, or however you'd like. I ended up building the past 10 years of my professional career on top of that itch.
That itch is still there, only in a much more disciplined, refined, channeled form. I grew to be a whole lot more cautious about what I put my time and effort into. Sure, that itch can still pop up unexpectedly, corrupting me to spend 4 hours of my free time on an interesting tech problem no one else would probably care about. Nevertheless, it does feel like I achieved some level of balance.
Is that enough, though? Can there be more? Will this balance be what will define the next decade of my career?
I think we can do better than that. It's not the quest for balance that makes me love what I do, but rather the ever-lasting game of tag between drive and discipline.
Knowledge, wisdom, appreciation, sharing
There are many things I have achieved so far. Few of them would have been possible if I hadn't received the help I did from all the friendly people I have met throughout my career. From inspiring mentors to challenging rivalries, from the creative newcomers of the industry to its wise veterans, I would like to thank everyone for their support. Because of you, I was able to obtain the valuable knowledge that helped shape the engineer I am today. Perhaps I even made off with a few glimpses of wisdom too.
I say all this not only because I want to show my appreciation, but also because I realize that passing the torch is important. I have been unable to call myself the youngest engineer in the office for a while now. Though it used to be a source of motivation in the past, it's not a source of disappointment now. This is because I get just as enthusiastic when I see the next generation come in.
Starting out as a Software Engineer today can feel overwhelming. There's all sorts of craziness going on in the world. AI may look scary. The economy may look even scarier. Uncertainty, in general, may be the scariest. But let me tell you this: I believe there will never be a shortage of things to be afraid of. We may never be able to change most of them by ourselves. What we can certainly do, however, is to enable others to overcome their limits. In an ideal sense, that is how you can build a well-functioning community and achieve more than any of its individuals could do on their own. In a more pragmatic sense, it's also what's going to pay the bills.
So what am I going to do about it? On the one hand, I believe I still have a lot to learn. On the other hand, I also believe I can make things easier for people who are fighting with challenges I already know how to solve.
The case for the next 10 years
I would not be surprised if someone did not already label me a "LinkedIn Lunatic" after reading all this. Worry not! Right now, I have no intention of writing more reflective articles like this one. Instead, I plan to follow-up with a series of on-point technical articles, focusing around particular technologies that I enjoy using, that I find relevant in this day and age. The series will be titled "The Case for ...", and will feature creative reasons why you would want to consider building things in the decade to come a certain way. The articles will be about tools that I have hands-on experience with, that are free and accessible to everyone.
I wish for these articles to be helpful in two ways:
- Growing your drive: focused on igniting your creativity, instead of being exhaustively explicit
- Sharpening your discipline: focused on discussing meaningful tradeoffs, instead of generating unjustified hype
My bet for the next decade is on taking a more involved approach in empowering others. I wish for "The Case for" to be the first step towards achieving that. There's more on my mind. Regardless of how these next years unfold, I will always strive to be creative and curious, have open and transparent relationships with others, and stay true to my passion for software. You should too!
Here's to the next 10 years!
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