Some new publishing has occurred. I'm mostly still playing catch-up with my return from vacation. I have a fully edited video and haven't had an hour to spend on doing the upload process. Bah.

Regular Programming got an episode out, it is about blockchain. To be very clear, not a fan of it. We also talk more generally about when tech meets society and the law.

Had my first set of conversations with people that applied for work with my sponsor West Arete. They checked the jobs page and I'm really optimistic about how this whole experiment seems to be carrying forward. You are a fantastic readership and I hope to connect you with some great companies if you are looking for Elixir work.

A new sponsor is joining the fold, Bzzt, a swedish company doing in-city transportation with electric vehicles. I haven't written their bio yet but just in case any Sweden-based Elixir developers are especially keen I've added them to the form. If you want to be a big part of a small startup doing technically interesting things with a strong real-world component. Apply and we can talk. This can also be a good role for an experienced developer looking to move into Elixir. Again, Sweden only right now, english language should be fine.

If you want to know when new opportunities come up, you can keep reading this or sign up to the job-specific list.

I'm still open for more companies that want to find Elixir developers with my help and make their presence known in the Elixir ecosystem. More details here.

Barely a Conversation

I recently had a conversation where I suggested it is worthwhile to invest in good audio, video and lighting for remote working and I said something about wanting employees to be "inspired". One of the people in this particular space, who I've disagreed with a number of times previously, immediately questioned the notion. "Do people really want to be inspired in a meeting?" And then went on to say that he didn't care if he saw his colleagues faces in particularly good quality.

Fair enough if that's your outlook but then we're not having the same conversation. My aspiration for my company and the expectation I have of modern companies is that they want to excel at things, make an impression, aspire beyond the dull background noise of being just another job. I'm wired like that, I recognize that this person just isn't.

And the video and audio quality is a small part in a bigger picture, but what this type of dismissal or incuriosity tells me is that it is a waste of time to describe most of the other aspirations and that this is probably not a conversation for that person at all. I say incuriosity because it is so very different from not understanding but being curious. "Oh? Why do you think audio and video are so  important that they are worth investing in? In what way can that be inspirational?"

I want to build and work with generative organizations that aspire to high ideals, high levels of execution and put something interesting out into the world. There are so many roadblocks to getting your ideas across to others. Establishing trust is unfortunately one of these weird human games and it is full of odd hacks and it underpins pretty much everything humans try to do together. When I go to a client as Lars The Consultant I dress slightly differently, still me, but tuned to making a particularly competent impression. When you see me in a video meeting I tend to have a good picture, decent lighting and a clear voice. It makes communication clearer and for unestablished relationships it provides a baseline of competence and effort.

This person gives a shit.

I want everyone I work with to give a shit. Especially about what they do, code, design, etc. But if they only take care in their craft and leave everything else at whatever base-level default is, we are losing something. I think it is harder as a team to get excited and aspire to do fantastic work if everything your are putting out into the world, the way you represent yourselves, is some half-assed effort coming across a blown out white-balance 720p built-in webcam and sounding like you're talking through a soda can.

It isn't "dress professionally". For all I care, dress outlandishly. Just pay attention and put care into it. Find more ways for us as a team and org to ascend past whatever we do now into doing it even better.

Audio, video, clothing, empathy, curiosity, communication, work ethic, boundaries, craft. There are so many places you can make steps forward and be better. If you really want to specialize in only one. That's probably going to work out okay. I want every part of what I do to feel to the world like it contains magic.

That's the conversation I'm having.

I've actually considered trying to write up a sort of practical guide on how I think one can grow as a professional, for developers, with this sort of mindset. I don't have time to tackle it right now but if this would be interesting I'd love to hear about it. You can reach me as lars@underjord.io or on Twitter where I'm @lawik.

Thank you spending the time reading. I appreciate your attention.

- Lars Wikman