There are practically no desktop computers at YouTube Space LA, and there are barely any phones or divided offices. Our computers are our phones and video conference rooms. For engineers like me, my computer can control and configure just about anything needed to put on a show. I can even remotely drive a mechanical robot around the YouTube Spaces in London, New York, and Tokyo. Everyone works on a Google issued Mac Book Pro at their non-cubical desk or just sitting around where they happen to be. With all those computers lying about, it's a good idea to make yours distinctive.
I used to feel it was stupid and juvenile to put stickers on a computer.
This evening however, I removed the all those stickers and gently cleared away the goo, leaving my trusty computer as naked as the day it was born. This is because I am returning my Mac Book to Google leaving my dream job at YouTube Space LA.
Why on God's green Earth why?
Why indeed.
The short answer is that, without looking, I was offered a job that pays considerably more.
What kind of person would I be if I left a job I love and people I love to work with for more money? This is the question I had to struggle with before I made my decision.
After looking back at my career path, I knew what I had to do. Here's why.
Click to enlarge
Yes, yes I actually made a graph with a "personal satisfaction curve", lets move on shall we?
Looking back on my 'careers' I have stayed at my jobs either two years, or seven to ten years. Each job has a growth period where I was out of my comfort zone, but learning new things and meeting new people. Eventually I ease into a comfort zone which is nice and comfy, but my growth plateaus off. After about 2 years doing one job, I gradually drift into stagnation which ultimately becomes frustration. The first two years of all my jobs have been positive and empowering times. The jobs I have stayed at long enough to establish comfort seize my growth and before I know it I'm stuck, which leads to negativity and self doubt. It is only anger and frustration that eventually free me from the mire. Anger is an effective motivator, but it's not healthy, and the time it takes for it to build to a tipping point is wasted I feel. The red areas of the chart above represent around ten years of stagnation and time spent in a more-or-less bad mood.
My wife can corroborate.
It seems that, for me personally, I need to move on soon after I begin feeling comfortable at a job, around two years in my experience.
This has started to happen at YouTube. I have felt it in the last few months and actually started interviewing for positions within the company, because who wants to leave YouTube? My growing within the company wasn't looking too good. Fortunately for me, I got a text from a good friend of mine with a job opportunity that pays a good chunk more and, are you ready for the icing is a mile from my front door. After getting to work at 5:30 AM every day just to avoid the 'heavier' traffic, a one mile commute is a bonafide golden ticket.
Win, win and win... almost.
You see, this could be dangerous territory. The job I am starting to is a TV/Movie Studio lot and the technology there is years behind what I was working with at YouTube. With a job that's easier, a dream commute and a handsome paycheck to boot, the dreaded comfort zone will set-in especially quickly this time around.
So let's be careful out there!
