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I have a difficult time making something my life, when I know it can and will be taken away at any time.

freitzkriesler2 2y ago
You make this mistake when you're young until you're laid off thebfiest time. Then you're bitter and jaded and DGAF. If a company was smart they'll hold onto you for life because you will care and give it 110% because that loyalty used to be gaurentee good output. Obviously none of this exists anymore and it's a damn shame.
- pfannkuchen 2y ago
  I think lifers tend to be pretty high on the “phoning it in” spectrum.
  - CoastalCoder 2y ago
    An exception I've seen is in the US Navy's R&D activities (NRL and NUWC, specifically). Plenty of those civilians are lifers with a serious sense of purpose for their work. You get the occasional dead weight, but it's far less common than you might expect.
    - Aeolun 2y ago
      I think you need to have a special kind of outlook on life to go work in a navy R&D department.
      - CoastalCoder 2y ago
        How so?
    - pfannkuchen 2y ago
      I dunno, I've seen this in multiple FAANGs. Ladder climbing lifers don't phone it in. Senior SWE lifers? Phoning it in pretty hard. Other industries are probably different.
      - hnbad 2y ago
        Some call it "phoning it in", some call it "working sustainably and avoiding burnout". It's fine to "phone it in" for the daily grind if it helps you maintain your reserves for actual emergencies. As the author point out, early Facebook instead instilled a "sense of urgency" which means everything is treated as an emergency all the time, which just means nothing is.
dools 2y ago
I'm reminded of a management adage: One business owner said to another "what if I hire someone, put all this time into training them and then they leave?" The other replied "what happens if you don't train them and they stay?"
- kamaal 2y ago
  >>The other replied "what happens if you don't train them and they stay?" Well the company always has options to fire such people.
charliebwrites 2y ago
Wait until you get laid off or your company “optimizes for performance culture” Turns out they’ve always been able to take it away at any time 9 times out of 10, the reason they do it will have nothing to do with you, your work, or your performance Just do what you can when you have a job and remind yourself it’s just a job
- Loughla 2y ago
  My employer just went through a reorganization that was intended to improve the experience for students (a college). Suspiciously, the only individuals impacted by the reorganization were director level, and were replaced by people the new president knew from prior employers. I took it hard until the pattern emerged. That's when I realized: Most times it's not about you. It's about someone else, you're just collateral damage.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ErigmolCt 2y ago
How can you invest deeply in something when there's a constant awareness that it might not last?

You make this mistake when you're young until you're laid off thebfiest time. Then you're bitter and jaded and DGAF. If a company was smart they'll hold onto you for life because you will care and give it 110% because that loyalty used to be gaurentee good output. Obviously none of this exists anymore and it's a damn shame.

pfannkuchen 2y ago
I think lifers tend to be pretty high on the “phoning it in” spectrum.
- CoastalCoder 2y ago
  An exception I've seen is in the US Navy's R&D activities (NRL and NUWC, specifically). Plenty of those civilians are lifers with a serious sense of purpose for their work. You get the occasional dead weight, but it's far less common than you might expect.
  - Aeolun 2y ago
    I think you need to have a special kind of outlook on life to go work in a navy R&D department.
    - CoastalCoder 2y ago
      How so?
  - pfannkuchen 2y ago
    I dunno, I've seen this in multiple FAANGs. Ladder climbing lifers don't phone it in. Senior SWE lifers? Phoning it in pretty hard. Other industries are probably different.
    - hnbad 2y ago
      Some call it "phoning it in", some call it "working sustainably and avoiding burnout". It's fine to "phone it in" for the daily grind if it helps you maintain your reserves for actual emergencies. As the author point out, early Facebook instead instilled a "sense of urgency" which means everything is treated as an emergency all the time, which just means nothing is.

dools 2y ago

I'm reminded of a management adage: One business owner said to another "what if I hire someone, put all this time into training them and then they leave?" The other replied "what happens if you don't train them and they stay?"

kamaal 2y ago
>>The other replied "what happens if you don't train them and they stay?" Well the company always has options to fire such people.

charliebwrites 2y ago

Wait until you get laid off or your company “optimizes for performance culture” Turns out they’ve always been able to take it away at any time 9 times out of 10, the reason they do it will have nothing to do with you, your work, or your performance Just do what you can when you have a job and remind yourself it’s just a job

Loughla 2y ago
My employer just went through a reorganization that was intended to improve the experience for students (a college). Suspiciously, the only individuals impacted by the reorganization were director level, and were replaced by people the new president knew from prior employers. I took it hard until the pattern emerged. That's when I realized: Most times it's not about you. It's about someone else, you're just collateral damage.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

ErigmolCt 2y ago

How can you invest deeply in something when there's a constant awareness that it might not last?