On Motivation of Software Engineers

Tobias Zander has written a blog post about Motivation of software engineers. This is what motivates me:

Freedom

Being once again in the situation of looking for my next job this question is a very important one to answer. I can earn money by taking on a lot of roles—the possibilities are endless. For me it is therefore important to know or at least believe to know what my day to day work should look like. In the past, I've already written about what I am looking for in an employer and gave advice on How to find a CTO; both posts emphasize on the circumstances that create great working environments. And for me a great working environment is a great motivator. If you read them, you'll see that I strive to work in an environment where I am trusted and have the tools I need. But personal freedom in deciding where and when I work is the most important factor of motivation for me.

Because of this it is great to work as a Software Engineer—or as I would see myself as a Software and Organization Engineer. When technology is all around you it enables you to work on a project anytime and everywhere but still having ways to bridge long distances in an instant. It is an enormous win to have people from different socialisations in your team. And we can because … the internet.

Purpose

Having worked as a freelancer this didn't matter then. The short-term motivator is getting paid good money for learning a new domain and software stack and apply my problem-solving, pattern-matching and software-building skills. But the new-toy-feeling wears off in just a few months. Therefore the second great motivator for me is that the time I spend in front of a keyboard is helping to create something that is useful. And useful in a way that is honest and does not harm the planet. Yes, I have the liberty to ask this question and having spent years building consumer marketing solutions I know how huge the market is which creates demand for the consumption of stupid products by selling fake innovations.

Challenge

Software is about Mind and Machines and the feeling to build something by combining smart minds and interesting technology is a never ending source of joy—and pain, too. Working in a field where every decision you make is just a good guess and you have to constantly adapt forces you to work on your skills and learn something new everyday. And everyday you have the chance to improve the system you are working on bit by bit. This cycle provides a constant stream of frustration and triumph—and that is what makes it great. There are only a few professions where you can see the result of your own work on a daily basis without being repetitive.