Tuesday 19 March 2013
Why I Work
Recently Pascal Finette quoted Tom Chi as saying:
When you come home from your job in the evening and pretty much all you want to do is slouch on the sofa, watch a movie and have a beer: Quit your job.
There have been many times when that's all I've wanted to do. Does that mean I should quit my job? No.
Before I worked full-time on Mozilla code, my job was computer science research. I'd have to say that was more fun and intellectually stimulating than my job at Mozilla. Does that mean I should quit my job? No.
I work at Mozilla because I think God gave me talent to use for the maximum good of all, not for self-gratification. I work at Mozilla because it's the most important work I can imagine doing. And it's not just me; one of the great things about Mozilla is that many, if not most, of its people have a similar kind of motivation. Mozilla is full of very smart people who have spent years dealing with difficult and frustrating problems, often turning down lucrative offers to do other things, because they believe in what we do. I love them for it.
It would be nice if important tasks were always exciting, energizing and exhilarating. But real life just isn't always like that. Making Flash less painful for our users, or tracking down bizarre graphics driver bugs, or struggling to convince megacorporations to do the right thing, is just draining.
However, it's important to keep a sense of perspective. Most of us are paid ridiculously well to do a job which is generally less stressful or challenging than many other kinds of work. If we make a few small sacrifices, no-one should be overimpressed.
Comments