At ease
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kitt decided around 23:29 on 21 May 2006 to publish this:
This is from a talk by Kent something, announced on the BayXP mailing list.
Message: having Ease at Work means I'm not wasting energy feeling uncomfortable and thus I will likely accomplish more, but even if I don't I will certainly have a better life. Inspirational quote #1: "Why do I have to turn off parts of myself to work here?" Inspirational quote #2: " I got tired of riding the genius/shithead roller coaster." Ease != Easy Ease is: * a state of comfort * freedom from worry, pain or agitation. * readiness in performance. facility. He talked about Fun vs Joy, something I've also heard as Pleasure vs. Enjoyment. Source of discomfort: the difference between awesome powers to change the world and the limitation that this doesn't matter if other people don't also do their part. "Can I learn to be ok with both the power and the limitation?" When feeling discomfort likely to do things like play "schedule chicken", overwork, hide information, live with the fear of being found out. Things that came up during questions: * Hero/martyr syndrome is organizationally addictive. People who buy into this behavior get rewarded. How do you maintain ease in an environment that not only doesn't value it but sees it as weakness? * This view of the programmer as wizard is related to the societal view of software as mysterious. At one time phones were mysterious... will that view of programmers as wizards go away when computers are no longer technological innovation but just a fact of life, as unexciting as the phone on your wall? * audience member (you are on this list and you know who you are) story paraphrased: "when I'm at ease I tend to be honest in my estimates and not overcommit, not get in over my head. but sometimes getting myself in trouble was useful. I miss that useful trouble."