The Life of an IT professional who walks the walk

Yeah, I think it’s time that this is said. I see it constantly and I’ll bet you do too. The IT guy that just “has a job to do”. The guy that thinks they’re above you or the world at large because they “know things” about stuff. The guy that is just there to fill the time and collect their paycheck. I’ve been there, I’ve seen it first hand, and I’m never going to stop seeing it and experiencing it. The prideless “professional” that couldn’t hack it if they came across a real one.

I have so many more things to say, but I’m sure you can fill in the blanks. Chances are I’ve exceeded whatever insults you might come up with. So, whats this article really about? It’s about the Power and, more importantly, the responsibility you have within the IT world. Hell, this is even applicable within most fields, but I’ll stay focused for a change.

We as the IT professionals of the world have an obligation to the normies out there. The worker bees, the boss, and the family. We took it upon ourselves to venture into the unknown to achieve the ultimate dopamine rush of literally working with something that is ALWAYS changing. Some of us went macro, some of us went micro, but all of us looked at the whole picture and went, “Ohhhhh, I like that.” For me, it was the humble beginnings of seeing what could be achieved with some simple drilling through directories via the command line. If you’re as old as me, you might even remember seeing computers in stores booted up into DOS. This magical electronic box that cost an exhobitant amount of money just sitting there with a black screen and a blinking cursor. Damn, that hits me right in the feels.

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Yeah, that’s where it started. Let’s look at this like a life structure though. I loved building things, creating things, modifying things, and making them my own. I grew up building everything, breaking things down, studying them, and trying to find out how they all worked together. Little did I know, that foundation would lead me down multiple different paths with not only IT at large, but carpentry, construction, automotive, and business. It’s a weird mash-up of professions, but every single one of these is related because they all involve logic. I played upon my strengths without even realizing it until my early 30s. I took that knowledge and structure to find the commonalities to see an application wherever it worked… and surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, it works everywhere. I’ve been able to dissect neatly everything down to its core process and literally do anything I set my mind to. What things, you might ask? The fact that I have been able to successfully coach people into understanding or grasping really complex topics of computing. The fact that I can go from standing up an entirely new IT structure in a weekend, to digging with a backhoe in my backyard, and then putting a driveshaft in a BMW seamlessly. I take this for granted, but without the realization that it really is power in its purest form, it’s worthless to me if it’s not passed on in some form or fashion. That’s your responsibility.I’m just grateful to think this way, and I’m grateful to those who think like this as well.

The Point

Now, the point of this is not to belittle anyone, unless you friggin’ deserve it. It’s to provide a small insight into how you can apply your IT know-how into real power and use it responsibly to bring others up. I’m somewhat of a teacher if you ask most people who get the chance to see me. I’m big into making it so even the most technologically “uninclined” can grasp what’s actually going on behind the curtain. I try as hard as I can to make it so this power isn’t just another unknown in a world full of unknowns. We base our lives around the use of it, and not everyone has the unbelievable opportunity that we have to really dive into it all and take it in. It’s on you to make it happen, IT professional, to make it happen. I’ve spent countless hours of my life explaining concepts that would easily make someone’s head spin. The logic escapes a lot of folks, and that’s OK. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stupid or ignorant, but it means that they’re working on a different plane than we are. The world wouldn’t turn without them either, and I’ve had many fantastic discussions with people that expand my understanding outside of the logical world. For those of you who made it this far, congrats! If you read this and realized you may have some shortcomings and want to work on them, congrats! For those who read this and got “big mad” about me calling your ass out, sucks to suck, huh?

All that talk about Power and Responsibility is a personal choice, when you boil it all down. You can make it work, no matter what. Not to mention that you have to make it work and you have to keep expanding your knowledgebase. If you see me out there, just know that the gears are turning all the time.