The Real Secrets of Silicon Valley
Chapter 9 of The Valley of Heart's Delight by Michael Malone.
...We take a job... and we dream of what might have been. And then we scheme ways to make the career we've found more fulfilling, more rewarding. Ambition colors our lives --- an all-consuming, fundamental ambition to somehow reach a better slot. This ambition is a universal disease. Politicians dream of becoming president, priests of being named pope, apparatchiks of becoming commissar, commoners of being crowned king.
..It's just that when one speaks of work, it always comes back to dream versus reality, to envy and ambition. But most of all, it comes back to self.
This is understandable, but also deadly. Too often we are so busy contemplating our splendid selves, congratulating ourselves over some minor, meaningless victory ("The Boss remembered my name! My future is made.") or chastising ourselves over some inexplicable defeat ("The Boss forgot my name! I'm human trash. I think I'll kill myself.") that we fail to look around. More often than not, that is where our real problem lies.
The Job. The Company you work for. We shed a tear over Dickens' horrific workhouses, then fail to notice that our own company makes Scrooge & Marley seem like Club Med; or that, next to our boss, Fagin is Mother Teresa.
...But when you return to the corporate cave tomorrow morning, do not tell your workmates what you've learned. Don't turn to the person at the next desk and loudly announce, "You know, this place really sucks." Such philosophical honesty may result in your living in a damp cardboard box under the San Fernando Street overpass and wearing somebody else's underwear. Just keep your mouth shut and remember: Given the present state of Social Security, you can never, ever retire...
Hah, I love the author's sarcasm and sense of humor. In any case, skimming through this chapter reminded me of how much my current New York roommates are corporate slaves --- *suffering* through the long hours of investment banking. I barely see them at all since they work well over 100 hours per week. One of my roommates -- Sharon -- ran out of the door this afternoon (practically in tears) since she was called back to do work. I immediately left her a voicemail to offer my support and encourage her to do well. It really hurts me to see my roommates like this.... Why do they even have jobs like this? Employee unhappiness should be a crime!
Rule #1: The real world is slower, more inefficient. And guess what? You got to live with it. I think I learned this the hard way ;p. I'm naturally an impatient person (which may be good or bad) -- but I have this natural tendency to not only "get things done" but to also get them done fast. I guess you can say I'm very results-oriented ;p....
Rule #2: If you can't live with Rule #1, you have to invent your own rules. This is the path I'm currently taking...Yes, I'm most likely going to be living out of a cardboard box but hey, at least it's -my- cardboard box. Luckily, I still have my underwear :) In the next coming weeks, I'm leaving New York City and moving back to the bay area...
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