What working in an average company has taught me
I define good work as something that you enjoy doing, something that is not mundane. It challenges you from time to time and it is something that you can contribute to, to the best of your abilities. I define an average company as a company with average everything, average pay, average amenities and average talent overall.
A few chosen ones amongst us developers, the ones who are truly gifted, belong to quadrant 1 (who do good work at a good company), and this article is not meant for them. They are god’s gift to humanity, and it’s because of people like them that the world is making tremendous progress. No, I am not gifted, I’m just an average developer who’s willing to work really hard when presented with good work. I write this article to share my experience with people who fall into the same category.
I have seen that average developers like me generally start their careers in quadrant 3 (average work at an average company, I was in that quadrant not a long time ago). Of course, some get lucky and ‘crack the coding interview’ to get into one of the good companies. They then land in either quadrant 4 (average work at a good company) or if they work really hard, quadrant 1 (good work at a good company). But according to me, average developers have a hard time remaining in quadrant 1. Even if you get into a good company, trying to remain in quadrant 1 is going to take every ounce of hard work you can muster, which involves sacrificing everything in life just to live in that quadrant. I feel that is not a happy path, instead a more ideal approach might be to try quadrant 2 (good work at an average company) or 4 (average work at a good company).
For people who don’t really care about their work and just enjoy boasting about the amenities their company has to offer, quadrant 4 (average work at a good company) can be a happy life. There’s plenty of average work at good companies, and the list of amenities is endless. But for people like me who love their work, who go crazy if they are not learning something new every now and then, I feel quadrant 2 (good work at an average company) is the better option than trying for quadrant 1 (good work at a good company). The issue with quadrant 1 is that it also has people who love their work and love to innovate, but the thing that differentiates it is that the developers in quadrant 1 are naturally talented and also work hard, and it’s intimidating to work with someone who codes a full working compiler over a long weekend. It’s just not fair to either the other developers on your team or to you.
On the other hand, being a hard worker in an average company gives you the freedom to take tasks that you like to do, since hard workers are scarce in average companies. Good work will almost always get attracted to hard workers. Even math agrees:
Average talent + hard work > Average talent.
The only downside of quadrant 2 (good work at an average company) is the reaction of your friends and family members when you tell them you work for an average company which has average pay and average amenities. Their sympathetic expression when you tell them you don’t get free lunch at office is cringeworthy, but you have to remember people will always find faults in things. If you tell them you get free lunch, they pity you because you only get 2 cuisines. If you tell them you get a free shuttle service, they commiserate you because your shuttle doesn’t have high speed wifi. If you tell them you earn a six figure salary, they offer their condolences that you don’t get stocks or bonuses. That’s going to be the case always, so might as well do something that makes you happy and not care about them. Whenever an occasion like this arises, remember this quote:
