The Motivation

The Motivation

There are a few reasons for me to solve The Problem. From the most to the least important, at least as I see it now:

Have such a product so that I can use it

Even if the rest of the rationale was perfectly solid (and it is!), my motivation to build this product would not be as strong as right now, when this is something I’ll start using once there is a first usable version, and I keep using it afterward.

If this was the only reason, I would start by picking an existing solution and compromising on my needs. As it stands though, I can and will build to my liking!

Learn

Very close second, but second nonetheless. I will step outside of the path trodden at work and learn a lot. I will revisit some of the technologies that we already have in Realpad but try to pick better alternatives wherever that makes sense for this project.

…which I’ll then bring to work

Getting my hands on the technologies we are not yet using means I will be able to use them at work if/when needed. Also, having more varied experience is its own dimension of work seniority 🙂

Have a side project

At no point in a very very long time did I have a side project of this magnitude. Some of my smaller challenges were done over a weekend. And there was nothing to phone home about, so to speak. At the same time, there was this silent envy of everyone who did have a project like this, it always felt like I was missing out.

Build up my discipline via regular writing

While I would not call myself undisciplined, there is definitely a pattern of spending time on things I later regret (looking at you, pop-sci channels on YouTube). So, part of my motivation is to hold myself accountable for the progress of the project and for adding posts to this blog.

Improve my technical writing

I do a lot of it at work, but not nearly as much as I should. Also, blog is a specific medium in which I’ll have to (strive for) consistency and clarity, including presenting my thoughts visually using charts and diagrams. This is especially important compared to work-related writing: I cannot assume readers of this blog have the same mental model of what I am talking about as I can assume with my colleagues.

Present my thoughts and ideas

Everyone is opinionated to a certain degree. I am not going to pretend what I write is any sort of best practice, but I hope to make the inevitable decisions and directions clear and justified within this project.

Share the work experience

To a certain degree, I plan to comment on some of the dilemmas in the context of my experience building Realpad in the past decade. So, this will serve as a look under the hood of that product, too!

Snapshot this part of my career

Never was big on journaling even if people praise it, so here comes the hope that this will become a sort of time capsule to return to later!

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