proof of a man's incompetence

I’ve long since had Ayn Ryand on my Todo list after recommendations from a lot of people on the lines of “I cant believe you havent read THAT yet!” …I’d say this post from (an Orkut friend) Sunayana‘s blog is definitely a catalyst… 🙂

I particularly liked this one…

If there is any one proof of a man’s incompetence, it is the stagnant mentality of a worker who, doing some small routine job in a vast undertaking, does not care to look beyond the lever of a machine, does not choose to know how the machine got there or what makes his job possible, and proclaims that the management of the undertaking is parasitical and unneccessary.

-Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, 1943

I think I observe this quite a lot in the (software) industry I happen to be in and must confess that there’ve been times when I’ve sadly shown ample proof myself… 🙁 though hopefully it should reduced over time!

This week I found myself telling a colleague with whom I’ve been playing table tennis regularly – imagine the situation when we play TT – if we’re playing half heartedly, unenergetically, if we’re not playing 100% with full concentration, having a lot of fun, and maybe improving ourselves, whats the %$#@ing point in playing at all? We’re not doing any favor to anybody, right?? So… why should work be any different? The question of course was an open one, to myself as much as to him.