This document discusses privilege in technology and perceptions of technology workers. It acknowledges the privileges that tech workers enjoy, such as access to resources and high demand in the job market. However, it also notes problems like peer pressure, lack of work-life balance, and imposter syndrome. Both tech workers and the public have skewed perceptions of each other - tech workers feel others do not appreciate or understand their work, while the public sees tech workers as antisocial or caring only about profit. The document encourages taking small steps to improve the situation, such as being kind to oneself, considering others, sharing knowledge, and focusing on quality over quantity of work.

1. privileTaking the out of
ge
Chris Heilmann (@codepo8) January 2018

2. Dina Amin
dinaamin.com
Beyond Tellerand Munich 2018
Feeling privileged is incredibly
empowering.

3. We enjoy quite a lot
of privilege.

4. Our privilege
(YMMV)
Fast web access across form
factors

5. Our privilege
(YMMV)
Kick-ass hardware

6. Our privilege
(YMMV)
Ridiculous scale
oldmanyellsat.cloud

7. Our privilege
(YMMV)
High demand in the job world
twitter.com/mattrickard/status/941065444919840769

8. Our privilege
(YMMV)
Open source tooling

9. Our privilege
(YMMV)
Platforms with open feedback
channels

10. Our privilege
(YMMV)
A high tolerance for doing
things not by the book

11. We also have a lot of
trouble to deal with

12. Our home-made troubles
blog.decodedshow.com/2017/10/13/decoded-chats-jason-lengstorf-on-work-and-life-balance/
github.com/jlengstorf/presentations/tree/master/work-life-balance
× Peer pressure and
unhealthy work attitude

13. Our home-made troubles × The burden of insight

14. Our home-made troubles × The “not invented here”
problem
twitter.com/mattrickard/status/941065444919840769

15. Our home-made troubles × Lack of real recognition

16. Our home-made troubles × Impostor syndrome
bigmachine.io/products/the-imposters-handbook/
blog.decodedshow.com/2016/10/18/decoded-chats-rob-conery-on-learning-coding-and-being-an-imposter/

17. Our home-made troubles × Lack of patience when it
comes to change

18. Perceptions are skewed
in every direction

19. We have weird
perceptions of what
people are like

20. Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ Things would be perfect if
people updated more

21. Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ People don’t listen enough
to experts – like us

22. Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ People are lazy and should
try to understand more

23. Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ Everything we didn’t do is
terrible

24. Fueled by mainstream
media, the perception of
us is also not good…

25. Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We destroy everything
people worked for
ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62

26. Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We build things only we
can understand
smarties2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/the-importance-of-a-well-designed-user-interface-figure/

27. Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We don’t care for people’s
privacy or feelings
techcrunch.com/2016/04/21/uk-report-finds-rising-digital-privacy-concerns/

28. Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We control the media and
cause horrible politics
theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/03/silicon-valley-politics-lobbying-washington

29. Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We’re antisocial and
sociopaths
amazon.com/Brotopia-Breaking-Boys-Silicon-Valley/dp/0735213534

30. So…
we are vile people,
who have everything,
work for people who don’t
appreciate us,
building products for people who
don’t deserve them...

31. Fuck, that’s
depressing…

32. Let’s break that
cycle…

33. Each of us in their
own way, taking
little steps…

34. First of all, let’s chill:
You can’t make
everybody happy.
You are not pizza.

35. Let’s be good to ourselves…
Sleep more Eat better Move more Take breaks Pet animals

36. Work in optimized surroundings
Effective
tools
Fewer
distractions
Up-to-date and
clean products
VMs and
containers

37. Considering the needs of others
Creating
performant
products
Keeping
language
simple
Automating
setups
Inclusive
design
Making no
technical
assumptions

38. Playing well with others
Clear beats
clever in
production
Commenting
our work
Writing
excellent
examples
Creating clean,
high quality
assets
Documenting
our products
and work

39. Conserving energy and focusing your attention.
Not every
discussion
needs us
OK to miss
out on some
new hotness
Tech news is
not better than
mainstream

40. Seeking out and celebrating little wins.
Closing
bugs
Helping with
bug fixing the
way you can
Finding
inspiration and
giving thanks

41. Sharing what you know and what you
know to avoid.
Writing
about failure
Explain what
problems your
solution prevents
Help others
stay safe (2FA)

42. Sharing opportunities and
knowing when to say no.
Beginner
bugs
Finding more
exciting
replacements
Calling out bad
behaviour
Sharing talent
you spotted

43. Never forgetting the importance
of playing.
Build silly
things
Try out
something new
Break things in
creative ways
Share things
that made you
happy

44. Big changes start
with small, but
deliberate decisions

45. Doing something
good even without
an immediate effect
can feel great.

46. Let’s use our
privilege to enable
others and great
things will happen.

47. Thanks!
Chris Heilmann
@codepo8