The More Things Change

Already in my career I've experienced enormous passion, burnout, extraordinary dedication to my team and projects, and depression. I'm sure many others have as well. Has it always been this way with technology? I often wonder if this rollercoaster is necessary, healthy, or normal.

I recently saw a recommendation for Soul of a New Machine, which tells the story of a team of engineers at Data General who built a new 32-bit computer in the late 1970s. The book is fascinating. Thirty year later, many of its descriptions of the project and the way the team worked and was treated could apply to any modern project.

The plot summary will no doubt sound familiar to you: A team of mostly young, mostly male engineers works grueling hours to build something amazing in too short an amount of time. They succeed, albeit a bit over their original schedule. Despite the project's commercial success, the team is denied both recognition and financial rewards and many end up leaving the company. Almost all of them ultimately enjoyed it and would (and did) do it again.

There were many pieces of this story that resonated with me.