There was a town known far and wide for it’s exquisite buildings and bridges. These structures were designed by 3 famous architects, and the buildings they designed were unmatched in beauty and function. They would walk through the city of their creations, and the people would say “surely these are the finest buildings in the world! and you are the finest architects!”
They experienced great joy from watching the people walking amongst the buildings of the city. But when they had finished 900 buildings, they said to themselves “what more can we build? Let us go to the mountains and rest from our work.”
So they went to the mountains and contemplated the stars and the streams. One year became two, and two became four. After 128 years they began to grow restless. “Let us return to our town and see the work we finished so long ago.”
So they started the journey back to their hometown. As they walked they discussed how great it would be to see the exquisite buildings they had designed and the joy on the faces of the people who looked upon them.
But when they returned, all the buildings had been destroyed. In their place were structures of foreign design and function. They asked a boy walking by “what has happened to our bridges and buildings?
The boy looked upon them with suspicion, and said “you are strange old men, and you speak of strange things. Who can own a city! My mother would beat me for speaking to you!”.
With that, the boy ran off and disappeared behind a glass door.
The men looked at the reflection in the glass and realized they were indeed strange old men in a strange city.
This is the first thing anyone should realize about a career in Infotech.
The things you design and build are extremely short lived. They will soon be replaced, upgraded, deprecated, sunset-ed, consolodated, merged, sold, modified, ported, or otherwise removed from reality.
A physical engineer will be able to look at his buildings and bridges for the rest of his life. A doctor is able to think of the babies he delivered or the lives he saved. Bankers can look at the houses they financed. Even lawyers can look back on results of the deals they closed.
However, in Infotech none of this is possible. In a short time it will all be gone.
This may initially seem depressing. But it is not.
In infotech, the things you must value are your relationships, your knowledge and your ability to learn. These are what are valuable and what last. If you focus on these, you will have a very rewarding career.
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