My Personal Creed of Employment

Wow. This resonates with me. Very much appreciated. You’ve captured something here I could not put into words on my own. Thank you

Here’s mine:

I, , in the presence of these my betters and my equals in my Calling, bind myself upon my Honor and Cold Iron, that, of the best of my knowledge and power, I will not henceforward suffer or pass, or be privy to the passing of, Bad Workmanship or Faulty Material in aught that concerns my works before mankind as an Engineer, or in my dealing with my own Soul before my Maker.

MY TIME I will not refuse; my Thought I will not grudge; my Care I will not deny towards the honour, use, stability and perfection of any works to which I may be called to set my hand.

MY FAIR WAGES for that work I will openly take. My Reputation in my Calling I will honourably guard; but I will in no way go about to compass or wrest judgement or gratifiction from any one with whom I may deal. And further, I will early and warily strive my uttermost against professional jealousy and the belittling of my working-colleagues in any field of their labour.

FOR MY ASSURED FAILURES and derelictions, I ask pardon beforehand of my betters and my equals in my Calling here assembled; praying that in the hour of my temptations, weakness and weariness, the memory of this my Obligation and of the company before whom it was entered into, may return to me to aid, comfort, and restrain.

Kind of sad/understandable/alarming.

Clearly every lesson is hard won from many years experience.

This is where development employment ends up I think after gaining significant experience.

You start by caring, making mistakes, throwing yourself into it, becoming disappointed, mad, excited, frustrated, overjoyed, deeply engaged, loving the company, less loving the company - believing in the mission.

Over time, you think about and wonder about situations that do not play out well, you formulate strategies to do better on them.

In the end, the passion for the company and its mission gives way to a cooler, calmer, more professional and reliable approach. At this point you're probably a much better and more valuable employee, but inside you no longer really care about what you are doing. You're easier to get along with, more predictable, and likely a very much better developer than when you started.

I'd say the employees who have learned all these lessons are the most valuable, but they're not going to be wildly enthusiastic perhaps. Unless of course the situation demands overt enthusiasm, in which case these employees might show the required enthusiasm, but it's ticking off an internal box "enthusiasm required in this situation".

I personally got to the point that I don't believe in any company mission except my own mission to make my own software - I'll build stuff for some other company, and I won't say out loud what I think about the mission/the product/the management/the strategy, but inside I won't believe.

I really like how most of them answer a common trope that I tend to see in the industry. For example:

> Appreciate marketing. It seems like bullshit, but it’s bullshit I don’t want to have to do. I’m glad someone else is doing it, I’m sincerely grateful for their efforts.

or:

> User interface matters.

That's a good basis to compare my current attitude too.

In my experiences, this all coincide flawlessly with how the "game" is played. On top of that, it embodies the gervais principle. Always talk positive, don't be afraid to give others credit and be viewed as a team player, quit thinking just about yourself. All of which aren't specifically because someone wants to do that thing like a dumb office game, but because it's a litmus test for others to view you. The better you get at gaming that system, the happier people are to work with you and say good things about you.

In my experience as well, I've had better relationships with coworkers when I half-assed stuff with a positive attitude than I did when I was just a workaholic. Nobody likes do-gooder brown nosing workers. Nobody. Everybody despises you because you make them all look bad. Making friends and getting along is worth far more than being able to do the job day 1. Every supervisor wants less work, especially with people. So give it to them.