It has been a while since I made any kind of reference to the work that I
do. This is actually a great thing. In general when you do not talk about
your job you are pretty happy. That being said, I shifted from more of a
product manager role into more of a DevOps / release management role.
What I have noticed in my new job, that i was oblivious to until now, has
been how cut throat it can be.
Now I work with dozens of dev teams and many management teams
and it seems like no matter how well something is working someone
out there is always very sure they can do it better. At first, that seems
like a brilliant idea. Companies that want to remain competitive must
stay on the bleeding edge of products and processes. The downside to
all of that is that the interpersonal relationships between the team
members becomes one of eat or be eaten.
I do not dislike this. This is not a complaint. I actually embrace the
challenge of navigating such a political workplace. It has an air of
excitement that I have longed for in my previous jobs.
My heart aches however when I see people inevitably behaving in what
I consider a bad way due to the politics and nature of the business. I do
not like to see my coworkers stressed about another team taking over
something they have invested a lot of time into that they are
passionate about. On the other hand I don’t see why they should hold
anything so close to the vest. Are we a team or aren’t we. I guess in
business that remains to be seen.