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Last Updated:
April 18, 2024

One of my guiding philosophies is that it's incumbent upon humanity to produce more 'good' than 'bad'. That said, the difficulty of finding consensus in a large enough group as to what qualifies as 'good' or 'bad' isn't lost on me. Viewpoints between people may differ (sometimes drastically so), but I choose to believe in the great averaging function operating on the inspiring selflessness and indelible selfishness that has steered us toward the societies we enjoy today.

While I attempt to keep my philosophy in mind during most interactions, I strive to make it more than a lofty ideal. To that end, I find that its supporting actions reside in the following pillars: external, internal, and change.

~ External ~

Solutions to the world's most challenging problems will not be solved in isolation. They will be byproducts of well executed and highly collaborative efforts. Therefore, manufacturing 'good' and trimming 'bad' will rely on us working together in innovative ways as yesterday's barriers - distance, ethnicity, class, language, etc. - are becoming avenues for today's opportunities to better the world we share.

But, moving the needle of progress will require us to champion compassion, tenacity, open-mindedness, and a willingness to step out of our comfort zones. We will need to regularly assess our environments - our world - and make whatever contributions we can to the small groups and large organizations devoted to the creation of 'good' and 'great'.

~ Internal ~

To effectively affect our environments and operate collaboratively, we should attempt to spend an appreciable amount of time on self-improvement and self-reflection. 

Self-improvement allows us to be more efficient with whatever tools we have. For some, the previous statement may seem trivial. But, broadly consider the areas of life self-improvement could affect (e.g., interpersonal relationships, physical and mental health, productivity, etc.). In essence, I view self-improvement as a lens through which we can maximize our potential strengths. The other half, self-reflection, is a way to recognize and address our respective weaknesses.

Though I've introduced self-reflection as a means to address personal weaknesses, I want to start by saying it is far more than that. I view it as our ability to examine our very existence (i.e., the reasons we act, think, and feel). For the sake of symmetry in prose, I specifically mentioned weaknesses. However, it has the capability to make our strengths stronger and curtail possible damages done by our weaknesses. As I learned some time ago, knowing oneself allows them to better chase the futures they desire and better avoid more detrimental pathways.

In my External section I tried to provide actionable commentary towards the end, but self-improvement and self-reflection are so personal that I choose to leave this section's action items at the reader's discretion. For some people, the answers may be more education, more exercise, and/or more therapy. For others, the answers may be far less. Regardless of the answers we choose, the point is to produce our own sense of 'good'.

~ Change ~

Complacency was one of my mother's greater fears for me. So, I apologize for pushing that concern onto the reader, but in virtually every system that matters, change matters. Finance, health, engineering, government, and so on - at some level and at some point - they all concern themselves with the fact that 'today' and 'tomorrow' could be incomprehensibly different.

We live in a dynamic world. If a person zooms in on any week, day, or hour, it may feel static, but it is most certainly not. One of the greatest threats we face to building a better tomorrow is the notion that it will be the same as today. The undercurrent of change may initially be slow, but it's still there. And, we shouldn't neglect its presence.

~ Looking Ahead ~

The three pillars I've expounded upon will be vital to establishing any system of merit that seeks long-lasting value. I encountered a book some time ago that separated coding/programming from software engineering and development. The author's demarcation line rested between 'coding' and 'coding over time'. The big idea is that a particular solution may work today. But, what will be done to ensure the solution works in 10 years? 25 years? 

The lessons from that book echoed several of the points I've made in my pillars. And, as I've encountered more resources and stumbled across methodologies in industry and academia, I've found the preceding pillars to be the rule rather than the exception. Working together, working on ourselves, and working alongside the constraints of an everchanging world will give our societies the best chance at making the future as bright as possible for as many people as possible.