Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Merry Christmas, CollabNet

This holiday season, with so much reduced staffing, reduced scheduling, and outright unemployment in the workplace, I find myself especially thankful to have a job. And not just any job, but a job I genuinely enjoy. (Who wouldn't enjoy a job where you get to work — from home, even — on awesome free software such as Subversion?!) I've made some of my dearest friends and experienced some of my favorite moments through this job. That's just cool.

But as I reflect on the season — on the birth of Christ, on goodwill and peace on earth, and so on — I'm especially thankful for a job at a company that doesn't embarrass me. I don't find myself wrestling with my own conscience as I accept that paycheck. Sure, there have been times when I questioned certain methods or approaches, but (as I told my immediate supervisor this morning, actually) I've always been permitted to do so freely, always found my management chain very receptive to my input, and always found that — at least in the interactions I've been privy to — behaving honorably was the desired goal even when doing so might cost us a sales lead or a nice press release opportunity. As society ages and the almighty dollar continues to amass worshipers, I suspect that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for employees to say nice things about their employers (with a straight face, at least).

So thank you, CollabNet, for providing me the luxury of not just a great job, but one which doesn't force me to make ethical compromises. I don't know what the future holds for our relationship, but my family and I are grateful for the ride thus far.