The Well-Rounded Technologist
Being a well-rounded technologist in today's world is hard. No, I'm not talking about being well-rounded as in knowing how to solve every DSA in assembly while also being able to architect the perfect cloud microservices for your highly scalable consumer application. What I mean is being well-rounded in your understanding of the global landscape, where tech fits in that landscape, and understanding the powers that shape and influence that landscape. You could call this politics, you could call this current events, however you look at it, it's hard to stay current with the latest in tech and the latest on what’s going on in the world.. We see things plastered all over social media, “The next big bad thing”, or people like Tim Ferriss who have sworn off the news for its bad vibes (I did that for a while; it was kind of nice, but you end up not knowing what’s going on in the world). If you’re working in tech or plan on being a founder one day, I think it's important to understand the game you’re playing and the forces that affect the board. In this world of easy consumption, you do have to be mindful of the balance between your inputs (reading, watching, listening) versus your outputs (writing, programming, creating). If you’re serious about learning something, why not try and do it the best way possible and with a systematic approach? That’s why I’m curating a deliberate practice of building both technical and non-technical awareness, specifically in the realm of politics, business, markets, and current affairs. I think this will help make me the most well-rounded technologist that I can be.
Building the Foundation
My current state is one of learning. I don’t know much, or at least I know enough to get by on most things, but I crave going deeper. I have large dreams and aspirations, and one day I’d like to own a large and impactful company. One that plays on the international stage. With that, I know that I’m going to need to learn a lot of skills and ingest a lot of information that doesn’t get taught in school or as a regular employee. Those categories of skills (strategy, politics, trends, markets, global systems) are all going to be important for me down the road, maybe 10 or 20 years in the future. I think it's prudent for me to get a grasp on them now. I’ve curated an intentional information diet that helps me better understand what’s going on in the world today, the critical analysis of these events, and how they might shape the world in the future. I think that being intentional and consistent with this learning (mainly reading of select publications and outlets) will help equip me to be the best version of myself down the road and truly understand the systems that I’ll be working in. I think it's important for anyone working in tech, not just the CEO, to be educated in these things as well. For one, I feel like it makes you much more interesting to talk to as a person. I truly think that if you operate in an industry, you shouldn’t just seek to understand the bare minimum. To truly be the best at what you do, you should seek to drill further and understand what forces are moving things and in what direction those things are going. That’s where true mastery and insight come from, and it will make you lethal at what you do.
Playing the Long Game
I know it's a meme at this point, but the quote “Our plans are measured in centuries” actually kind of hits for me. I get it. I may not be scheming out a few hundred years in the future (maybe only 100, okay), but I’m here to play the long game. I have global ambitions. I would like to build a mighty and influential company in Canada and help make it the most prosperous country in the world. I know, however, that I’m not yet there. I'm using these next few years to build up to that journey. I’m really attacking this goal from the ground up: finishing my college diploma in computer engineering, go to work for a great and influential company working on the cutting edge of an industry, start my own SaaS venture, roll those learnings in to a defence-tech company, and one day hopefully start helping to shape and influence policy on defence and technology here in Canada. That’s the game plan. It’s all there - my life's work. But I’m only at the first step right now, and that step is to learn. Learn to become the most technically proficient technologist that I can be while also becoming the most well-rounded and educated person on the levers that will affect me down the road. I’m 29 right now, and I feel old (ancient) in this industry. But I know that I’m so young and have so much ahead of me. I can’t wait to have another decade of reading, researching, networking, building, and learning compound and only be 40 when that decade is done. That’s still young, and it’s so exciting. While capitalism may not be the greatest system in the world, it's the system we have, and I’d like to be the best I can be at it. That’s why I’m trying to learn all that I can on the technology front, but also on the political and current affairs front. I’m looking to play a global game, and to play that, I need to learn as much as I can now and continue to do so throughout my entire life. I’m going to take the words of Charlie Munger to heart and take this simple idea seriously for a long period of time: “Become the best, most well-rounded technologist I can be.” I think I have the world ethic, the knowledge diet and the drive to do this, and I’m excited to be on this journey. Because in the end, being a great technologist isn’t just about code—it’s about understanding the world your code is going to change.