I admit I’m a bit obsessed with working at Yahoo! I don’t work very very long hours but I spend a lot of my free time thinking about Yahoo! I don’t believe I’m a workaholic, just someone who loves his job.
I used to apologize for being so obsessed, but now I’ve come to terms with it. I compare it to being a writer, or an artist. It’s part of who I am now. Being a Yahoo! is my identity much like being a actor, an actress. Our society seems to value people with obvious talents (musicians, painters) and don’t fault them for always be into their ‘job’. However, if you were an accountant, an executive, a lawyer, then you maybe labled as a workaholic. The definition of talent needs to be augmented a bit. Talent is something that you love to do, that you feel most at ease doing and something you are good at.
Yahoo! is like this huge canvas, people who thrive in it get to pretty much paint anything they want. And if it’s good, you are rewarded and you get more brushes and more paint to play with. If you choose not to paint at all, well you don’t get to play.
Engineers are especically blessed. We know the web, we know what makes a good product and we know how to build products. Good things happen when engineers sit down and just do it and make it happen!
Leave a Reply