Working through a values exercise for this course, two results surprised me.
The first is that I prefer working in an office. I had assumed I’d prefer working from home, since nearly all of my communication with my team happens online anyway. In practice the unplanned parts matter more than I expected – lunches and hallway conversations with people from other teams, most of whom I’d never otherwise talk to.
The second is how strongly I value difficult work. I’d have guessed I wanted tasks to be comfortable. I’m noticeably more engaged when they aren’t.
The rest is less surprising: I want work that runs over months rather than one-offs, colleagues who are easy to work with, and honest feedback about whether what I’ve built is any good. Outside work I care about keeping my options open, which is most of why I don’t own a car.