Sriram, Thank you for asking. Comments within.
jrs On Mar 19, 2012, at 9:57 PM, Sriram ET. wrote: > On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 8:15 PM, John Sundman <j...@wetmachine.com> wrote: > > But remember also, Data General was the place memorialized by Tracy Kidder in > his book Soul of a New Machine, which described pretty accurately both the > cynical manipulation of young computer engineers by management, along the > lines of "churn 'em & burn 'em", and the willing collusion of the young > engineers in their own manipulation. > > I had 'Wish Listed' the book the last time you mentioned the book (I think). > This time, I will buy and read it :-) I think it's a great book and holds up remarkably well 30+ years later. In any event, it has become a classic. > > I cannot imagine any scenario in which I would willingly work that way for > anybody else again. > > How much of this you think is due to the paltry pay off from past > experiences? If you had hit the jackpot at some point, do you think your > attitude would have shaped up differently? That is a very interesting question and I don't know the answer. I do suspect that if, say, the 35-year-old John had hit the jackpot and become vastly wealthy, he would today be a person that the current John would consider an asshole. Or, if not an asshole, at least a more shallow person than I think I am today. For one thing, I'm very proud of the books I've written. I think they're legitimate art. They were all born of failure. Had I not experience repeatedly dashed dreams & repeated bone-crushing disappointment (I've been laid off -- I think you say "made redundant"-- several times), I don' think I could have written books nearly as passionate and honest. Who knows? I do have a younger brother who hit the jackpot (on Wall Street, not in Silicon Valley) when he was about 35. He has tens of millions of dollars and owns 3 houses; he used to own a share in a private jet. He recently got sacked from his CEO job, and is not looking for work. He has many $$ millions saved, recently got divorced. His youngest child is in in college. He's spending his time flying here to go skiing, then there to play golf, etc. He is my brother and he's nice to my daughter and we work together to take care of our aging parents, so I like him well enough. But to me he seems a really boring person. I don't know if he's ever had an actual idea, other than about how to make more money. When we get together ever year at the family reunion, we talk empty bullshit. Our father was a volunteer firefighter and I'm a volunteer firefighter. I cannot imagine my wealthy brother joining his local department. I would rather spend a weekend in a Massachusetts Firefighting Academy course about hazardous materials then jetting to Colorado to ski down a hill. My wife and I also run a food bank for poor people. That's a lot of hard, unpaid work for which we rarely get a thank you. Had I hit the jackpot, I don't think I would be doing that. I used to ask my brother, "Why the hell do you keep going in to your stupid office? You don't need any more money. Is this really what you want to do with your life?" And he would say, "It's the only think I know how to do, and I'm good at it. Plus, they pay me obscene amounts of money to do it." To which I would reply, "Well, you're a success and I'm a failure; you have millions and I'm flat broke. But I'll tell you one thing that you don't know: Life is short. You shouldn't waste it on bullishit." I don't think I've answered your question, but at least I'n the same zip code. Kind regards, jrs > >
