Whenever we talk to our sons about work or careers, I usually re-tell this short story:
"When I went to work for IBM, right after getting my undergraduate degree, my father told me I'd never have to work for another company again. Over fifteen years later, when I was hired by Microsoft, I thought I'd reached the pinnacle of my career. My father and I have both been known to be wrong at times."
We've explained the quaint concepts of 'cradle to grave' employment, being a 'company man', and the idea of pensions to our boys. They are as fascinated as I am that my early years at IBM will (or may) result in a small pension, an ancient corporate ritual. My parents gave me my work ethic and a glimpse at my father's career; it took many years for me to see that my own life's work marched to a different drummer. I'd like to think that our boys will understand from the start that their life's work choices belong to them, and not to someone else's idea of success, or to an organization that provides a paycheck.
I still catch myself thinking in terms of a finite career instead of my life's work. It's now been nearly another fifteen adventurous years since I thought I'd reached the pinnacle! In my early days, I joined IBM as a programmer to write programs in 360 Assembly, Fortran and variants of PL/I; then, just prior to joining Microsoft I became one of the first 1000 programmers to become certified in C# as a 'Solution Developer'. After learning C# I thought I'd never have to learn another programming language again. I always did take after Dad.
This afternoon, after some technical gymnastics with Windows 8.1, I compiled my first Android application in F#. So much for never needing to learn another programming language...
Although I'm a self professed data geek I still enjoy losing myself in a development environment (Xamarin Studio this time around). Working with both code and data reminds me of the boys in a way; it doesn't make sense to say I enjoy one more than another and I'm happy to have them both in my work life. After standing up the Hortonworks sandbox last month to grind through Hadoop tutorials, then slinging code in F# today, do I think I'll never have to learn another data platform or programming language? Never say never...
If you are fortunate enough to find a trade or skill to call your life's work, it becomes a part of you that grows and changes as much as relationships with family or friends. Cradle to grave employers and pensions aren't the reward. Retirement doesn't apply; you continue to live, learn, and grow until you master your life's work on your own terms. Since Dad kept busy with his life's work well past his 80th birthday, I think would have agreed; he and I were also both known to be right at times.
