Impact can vary wildly between companies and circumstances given the same inputs however, so indexing on that can be misleading in interviews.
I've moved big revenue metrics with relatively simple projects. Anyone else could have done the same thing. And I was building on work that lots of product people and other engineers performed. That "impact" doesn't tell you anything about what I can bring to a new company with different systems and products.
Do you have any books to recommend to understand more about the luddites and industrial revolution? I want to learn more about historical analogues for our current moment and my current understanding is at the level of high school history class and popular knowledge.
Brian Merchant's Blood in the Machine is a good overall history of the Luddite movement (though be aware it does not strive to be ideologically neutral).
This is a weird suggestion, but the American Girl Doll book Samantha Learns a Lesson has the most ELI5 explanation of the pitfalls of the Industrial Revolution I've ever seen. I mean that literally, my five year old loves the book and the movie based on it. This era is my favorite in all of human history, I've read thick tomes about it, and this old children's novel is seriously fantastic.
Out of curiosity, did you know the neighborhood was like that before moving in? Or was it luck?
I agree there's a huge variety in neighborhoods in the suburban umbrella, which is unfortunately ignored in urban/suburb discussions. We're house shopping and want to find a "good" neighborhood, but short of knowing someone in the neighborhood already or spending significant time in the neighborhood it's hard to get a good indication of vibes.
I'd like that sort of neighborhood as well, but other than sidewalks and perhaps a nearby park it seems difficult to gauge character like that until you live there. And there are lots of neighborhoods that have the objective basics (sidewalks, low crime, etc).
You know hindsight is 20/20, I may be puffing up how much “research” we did. There was a lady having a garage sale with some kids the day we looked at houses, my daughter now plays at that house almost every day, we drove around the neighborhood once or twice and saw kids playing outside, we knew the city was one of the safest around. It was the most expensive house we could “afford” (not really) at 30 after our first daughter had been born. The other candidate house was in an older neighborhood and we watched someone being arrested at the gas station down the street, which turned us off to the place.
It is still US suburbia, but as I said it’s an “if you build it, they will come” type situation and during the summertime we see kids (early tweens) with electric scooters or electric bikes going by themselves or with small groups of friends to the shops nearby (stuff being close enough to do this, although walking is maybe a little bit of a trek). Twenty years ago when it was built, this house wouldn’t have had all the accommodations nearby, as they’ve been built since.
I do think that us taking a principled stand on “we will not be bullied, and it is a goal for our kid to be able to be independent in the neighborhood” has helped. I know 100% the Indian girl down the street’s mother initially had a rule she couldn’t go play but she said “but mom, the girl down the street can go everywhere!” and now she’s out playing almost every day. All the kids have the “be home by dark” rule. It’s also astounding how diverse the neighborhood is, her friends are mostly first or second generation Americans with professional parents, from India, Argentina, Mexico, and Vietnam. It’s really great to see all the girls becoming good friends.
I've moved big revenue metrics with relatively simple projects. Anyone else could have done the same thing. And I was building on work that lots of product people and other engineers performed. That "impact" doesn't tell you anything about what I can bring to a new company with different systems and products.
reply