I graduated college 20 years ago, and even before I registered for my first college class, I knew precisely what I wanted to do. I was in the extremely lucky minority of students that did. I wanted to work on or with computers. By the time I’d enrolled in college, I’d already built numerous PC’s, spec’d and built a couple of servers, did some programming (for good and….chaotic good), and played many games with my friends (I called them “net parties”, the second generation called them “lan parties”). I look fondly back on the days of Doom II and Quake.
As I got my first job out of college, I didn’t know what the road ahead looked like. When I got my first job, it was in healthcare. I was the only IT person the company had and was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on new technologies, new systems. I wasn’t jaded back then. I hadn’t “seen things”. Bright eyed, bushy tailed – I thought I knew it all.
I’ve absolutely no regrets – over the years I’ve changed jobs only a couple of times (it’s not in my top 3 favorite things to do if I’m honest), but I’ve seen a troubling trend. More and more people are entering the IT workforce, but less and less people understand how any of this works.
As things break, less people know how to fix them. Hell, some people don’t even try. You start to see the train wrecks ahead. Major projects are on a collision course with disaster. Some projects employ a “design-as-you-go” philosophy, which is another catastrophe. People don’t ask the right questions. Senior leaders sign contracts before talking to technical folks. It’s all part of what I and many others refer to as the ‘Dumpster Fire’.
I use the phrase semi-lovingly. I rather enjoy problem solving. I tend to find myself on the short list of people at my various workplaces who can solve the difficult and challenging problems that no one else can solve. I welcome these challenges – I usually learn new skills or tactics, and I love the feeling of solving that difficult problem.
Now we arrive at this blog. I wish I’d have started this a decade ago (though I did have a Geocities page in the mid-to-late 90s). Wish I’d shared some of those interesting and challenging problems. I’m 20 years into my career, with at least another decade to go. Perhaps it’s time I start documenting some of the fun and interesting things I come across. We may both learn a few things – I’ve love realized that there’s so much more to learn. As the saying goes…..”the strongest steel is forged in the fire of the dumpster.”