Beyond Making An Impact

“The impact you have is literally worldwide”.

This is the headline from a recruitment ad ran by the NSA on social media.

The NSA.

…Take-away:

#1 Be specific with your work. Making “an impact” isn’t the goal. Blowing yourself up in Times Square makes an impact. Your work should aspire to more.

#2 Not all work is worth doing. Sometimes we embark on projects that seem smart at the time, but later reveal themselves to be a bad idea. Cut ties with those projects.

#3 Do work you’re proud of. Everything we produce should be something we’re proud of. Could you really be proud of “making an impact” through overzealous surveilling and pervasive breaches of rights?

Please, make an impact. But make it a positive one, worthy of your time, that the world needs, that you can be proud of.