Drive, part II

Well, I am at the end of my current employment. For once, I have nothing to do with it. Well, not directly, anyway. Like anything else, there are good things and bad things coming out of this event. One of the good things seems to be the energy I have on reading and writing again. I was used to reading a lot of stuff over a short period, technical and non-technical. I was also used to write a lot more than I have been for the last three years. I simply did not feel like writing that much at all for the last three years. And I was always exhausted after work too.

As like my previous employments, this soon-to-be over job has been very interesting. It has been very challenging; it has been very hard; and it has been very different from my jobs before this one.

There are some certainties about this job that is refreshing; for instance, I would have more or less no resources at all. Unlike my previous jobs, the power that be did not pretend they either knew software development or even cared about it. And they did not pretend they had any respect for the development people. This is refreshing; because I could simply write them all off this way, and came up with ways to succeed despite the obstacles. Very interesting situation.

I like to complain about people who don't know anything about software calling the shot for software development. This is not going to change in the near future, I don't think. Every time I talked to the executives of software or technology companies, I came out more convinced that power will always be in the hands of people who know very little about software development.

Anyway, I did learn a lot about software as a service and the challenges it imposes on software development. Through these three years, I argued with people about how it should be done. I argued with people about how production should be handled. And I argued with people about how testing should be done for this very interesting environment. I am convinced since very early on that a lot of conventional wisdom simply does not apply for software as a service.

Until I have a new job and become busy again, I am thinking about writing a series of articles on the journey I had from the beginning to the end of this saga.

But what has drive to do with it? Drive has something to do with it because throughout the three years, although there have been so many times that I could simply give up and walk away, instead, I simply worked harder to get it done. It is unfortunately it looks like it is for naught, and the domain knowledge I gained from it all going to be lost. But hey, nothing is guaranteed to be a success. I did have the drive the last three years.

I am very pleased by that.