For reasons I won’t go into here, I instead became an engineer. Instead of working alone, I learned to work in teams. Instead of artistic vision, I learned compromise. Instead of ideas, I worked on “systems”.

I started to see the world as 1s and 0s, like a man with malfunctioning X-ray vision.

Play a movie on a computer and I see data flowing from the video card buffer, electrons firing across microscopic wires, in and out of registers. The chip clock stomps in a loop, biasing logic gates to swing open and shut, Morse-coding out the next frame of the film, two pixels at a time.

Later, as I transitioned from engineer to manager, more of the world became systems – workflows, process, metrics.

One day, I found myself taken aback by a new hire who told me: “I don’t like how you use that word.”

“What word?” I asked.

“You call people ‘resources’. You should call them ‘people’.”

He was right. I was only a couple years out of college, and Microsoft had indoctrinated me so deeply with corporate-drone speak I couldn’t even detect it in myself.

I think when you’re taught to think in systems, you see people differently. You make assumptions about what people can do, how they behave and how they should be treated. These assumptions are needed for systems to work – for any technology to “work”.

I realize that I was wrong as a child – it’s not the role of an artist to make things for society to enjoy. That’s the role of the engineer, and of the systems thinker. It’s systems – software and organizations – that make life more convenient.

The role of the artist is to BREAK the system.

As Picasso broke the photograph, and as Rodin breathed life into metal, so it is the role of the artist to break our assumptions [1]. In a popular arts context, we look to our superheroes – Ironman, Spiderman, Batman – to perma-stretch our imaginations from the banal to the fantastical.

Art is the ultimate broken assumption. It can’t be measured, can’t be defined, can’t be agreed upon. To celebrate art is to acknowledge the infinite tastes and diversity of humanity, that no system can ever capture.

Art frees us.

That’s not to say technology is a prison. However, if one day you wake up with the same phone as everyone else, visit the same websites as everyone else and order the same food as everyone else, perhaps art is a way to keep our brief lives from becoming an assumption.

[1] By “break our assumptions” I don’t mean it in the context of malicious computer hacking, which I consider more systems thinking than artistic.

The human head is about a foot wide. The space between studs backing a piece of drywall is about 22 inches wide. If you take a running start and ram your face full speed into a section of drywall you have a one in three chance of not hitting a stud.

When talented people “hack” without thinking clearly about users, I think of drywall roulette players who blindly sprint full throttle into a wall, hoping to get lucky.

After doing this a while myself, I now think the trick to winning is forethought – figuring out where to break through is more important than strength.

Before committing, why not knock on walls to find an opening?

In software, a “knock” is anything that quickly tests a product idea. It’s talking to users, studying competitors, asking experts, running ad copy, and building mockups.

While in school, I’d use class projects to knock on different walls, from digital signatures, to social shopping, to productivity apps. At one point, a venture capital friend stopped asking “how’s it going?” and greeted me with “what are you working on this time?”. It took until my final year before these knocks uncovered the opportunity that led to our company and raising funding from Y Combinator and other helpful folks.

Beyond startups, I think this bad analogy applies to leading organizations – every strategic decision is drywall roulette.

Make a mistake, and you’ll stumble.

Choose wisely, and you’ll walk through walls.

Thanks to David R, Nick S, and Zak H for feedback on early versions of this post. 

It was inspiring to hear how he built up the project and his company. I thought “I should blog more”, and maybe get a new blog – because, hey, it’s the future already.

First stop, Posterous, because Garry Tan is fun, smart and lovable  Unfortunately, when I tried to sign up I hit a “Oh noes! Something went wrong” error, and then I read the Twitter acquisition letter, and got a little nervous…

Next was Svbtle, which is elegantly designed and out to change the world – plus it’s a Y Combinator sibling and it would be nice to support what Dustin’s trying to do. But, then I worry I didn’t have enough to say, at least not yet…

Weebly? Also Y Combinator-backed, and highly, highly recommended. However the business features may be too tempting. I’d probably add a shopping cart just to see the funnel…

I’m out of time, so I circle back and open a free account on WordPress.com. One thing I discovered from Matt’s talk was the WordPress full screen editor – and it is gorgeous!!!

Sold.

What did I learn in flittering about the interwebs looking for blogging software?

Seek who, not what.

Everything in this world – from the Model T to Disneyland to the iPhone – is an echo of its creators. As engineers, we’re taught to think of feature lists and specifications, but products are ultimately works of expression. Products are humans, in their purest form, flaws and all.

Welcome to iantien.wordpress.com.

I respectfully disagree.

To me, there is only one reason to join a startup: To do the best work of your career.

A startup is a high potential business where every team member can make a tremendous impact. It’s about having flexibility, initiative, trust, and opportunity—and working with people focused on doing something spectacular together.

Here’s a list of bad reasons to join a startup:

1) Because your peer group/friends/family think it’s cool

Don’t chase what other people want. It’s human nature but it’s also really stupid.

2) Because you hate big companies/bosses/structure/fill_in_the_blank

If you’re running away from something, you lack trajectory. You’re odds of getting what you want in escape–rather than in pursuit–are way lower than they should be.

3) Because you want a financial lottery ticket

All startups fall on hard times. If you’re in it for only the money, you’ll likely give up too soon and lose everything.

Everyone has different priorities, and different reasons for joining whichever company they choose. I propose that if you choose the right reason–to do the best work of your career–doors will open for you in unimaginable ways.