4 ms·
When thinking about WFH as a "software person" I often come back to the case of the writer. In the ideal case, i.e. if we factor out the employers, what we do
by biztos 9y ago
When thinking about WFH as a "software person" I often come back to the case of the writer.
In the ideal case, i.e. if we factor out the employers, what we do is not so different from what novelists do. Of course it's not the same, but the physical aspects of the work are remarkably similar when you think about it.
And where does the novelist usually work? In a home office if they can.
So while I am sometimes frustrated with my (very privileged) position as a remote worker for a software company, I try to remind myself that in the ideal version of the work I do, I already have the ideal workspace.
(And yes, in the ideal version the Programmer codes for four good hours a day, just as the Novelist writes for about that long before going out into the world for inspiration and Life.)
- dasmoth 9y agoIn the ideal case, i.e. if we factor out the employers, what we do is not so different from what novelists do. I very much agree with this as an ideal case. The voices saying "software should always be written by a team" are very loud at the moment, though. (A reasonable number of novels are collaborations, but the authors generally come together "organically" rather than being thrown together by the publishers. Closer to starting a contacting shop with a couple of friends than the standard software team setup).
- biztos 9y agoI admit that my novelist analogy breaks down a little when you're building, say, Facebook. But how many people who wished to be writers ended up working in advertising, or government, or someplace else where they do write a lot, in collaboration with others and subject to requirements handed to them by their bosses? I think most of us write software the way a copywriter writes copy at McCann[0]. It's great to make Creative Director, but... [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCann_Erickson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCann_Erickson
- dasmoth 9y agoInteresting analogy and one I'll give some thought to. I can't really see copywriters doing the kinds of "team rituals" (daily standups, etc.) that are de rigueur in parts of the software world -- but maybe I'm wrong about this.