This article seems like a big maybe to me. Attitudes are contagious and are more observed than one may realize. I work on a platform team, many of our sibling t

This article seems like a big maybe to me. Attitudes are contagious and are more observed than one may realize. I work on a platform team, many of our sibling teams wield the power and influence of being a platform team with the grace of an angry third grader with crayons and a blank wall. The angry third grader really used to get to me and people could see (whether I directly told them or not) that they had affected me in some type of way. These days, the self that I bring to work is more like a git clone --depth 1, and as a result the angry third grader exercises much less power over me. I discovered that my colleagues notice me far more than I notice myself. I was reminded of this when I came back from a meeting with one platform team that has treated us with notable hostility; they frequently would backtrack statements and commitments that weren't recorded or logged, they would make up requirements on the spot after requirements had already been agreed on, etc... That's the flavor of team these folks were - everyone at the company knows it too. I was not able to get them to budge and it was more expedient and better for our users at this point if we just did what they wanted rather than the full vision. My peers asked what happened, I smiled, and said, "Well, I wasn't able to convince them to do everything, but we'll make do and continue to plan for the future as long as it benefits our users." In a one-on-one is when I was made aware of how my peers observe me, most of them remarked on my stoicism and the fact that it didn't deter me. The fact is that it does, I don't like disorganization that becomes nearly undecipherable from gas lighting, I don't like having goal posts moved, and I don't like organizations that are supposed to be constantly in pursuit of making users lives better thinking stagnation is a strategy. Having projects cancelled affects my promotion prospects, it wastes time/money/energy, etc... I feel some type of way about all of these things. From my sample size of self, I think the article is right but more in a way that perception matters and you're either the type of person that has to: - git clone self --depth 1 - tell yourself fanciful stories