February 23, 2015 at 8:10 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Making Plans
February 24, 2015 at 12:50 am
This editorial is spot on. I should imagine that many aspects of my career are repeated in others and I find that the "regular progress" is an important achievement. Early on in my career the state of "constant progress" was not only achievable but desirable. I was young, ambitious and driven. I am all those things now but older. That brings with it two aspects that entwine to maintain a balance: less energy and experience.
Even though I have less energy than decades ago I counter that with the knowledge of basics that often allow me to speed through or skip foundation elements when learning something new. I guess it is a bit like running a 100 meter race with a younger self. The younger self is much faster by I have earned the right to start at the 50 meter mark.
I am sure that this analogy falls down in so many ways but I hope that it gets my point across. If not it probably explains me anyway 😉
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
February 24, 2015 at 5:21 am
Great post, Steve. Given my current situation, it was a compelling read.
February 24, 2015 at 7:05 am
Since we're smack in the middle of our performance review process, this editorial reminds me of those ubiquitous 3- to 5-year goals that get stuck on them. It always puts me in mind of the dialogue between Rick and Yvonne in Casablanca:
Yvonne: "Where were you last night?"
Rick: "That's so long ago I don't remember."
Yvonne: "Will I see you tonight?"
Rick: "I never plan that far ahead."
Goals for the coming year, OK. Beyond that, don't ask. My life doesn't revolve around work. As others have pointed out, the editorial is spot on in that regard, particularly the last paragraph.
____________
Just my $0.02 from over here in the cheap seats of the peanut gallery - please adjust for inflation and/or your local currency.
February 24, 2015 at 8:06 am
We'll all take what we want from the editorial. What I saw in it was flexibility.
February 24, 2015 at 8:44 am
Thanks. Glad that you enjoyed it and got something.
February 24, 2015 at 9:13 am
Back in the early '80s I had a teacher who espoused not working at one job for more than 3-5 years when you're starting out in IT, do that for 10-15 years, and by that time you have a lot of experience in different facets of the technology and in different industries that you should be able to make an informed decision and find a company to settle down in and earn out your retirement.
I still think that was pretty good advice. But that was couched in '70s IT paradigms: mainframes, COBOL & RPG, etc. The micro revolution, much less the database revolution, was on the horizon but had not yet erupted and flipped everything on its head. It also falls down in that it's not always easy to find companies that you can spend the last 15-20 years of your work career in one place.
I personally have no plans beyond a seven year window because my wife will have maxxed out her retirement at the observatory at that time and we'll probably be looking at another job for her which will require moving. My current project, of which I am the sole developer and DBA, will probably take me about a year, after which I'll be looking at other database systems currently in place and other IT roles to fill here at the school. But for me the simple and fairly unyielding truth is there aren't a lot of IT jobs in SE New Mexico that fit what I need, and I'm at the point in my life where I'm not going to relocate for a job and I'm not interested in working in certain industries for personal philosophical reasons. So we'll see what jobs I can find or create wherever we end up living.
Life is too short to work in places that go against your grain, and there's more than enough unpleasantness and unhappiness in the world to go out of your way to increase your own.
-----
[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply