Today we were talking about path dependence. Two days ago, I saw an old colleague still doing what he has been doing for more than ten years (a relatively segmented field in the software industry). It was a complete accident that he entered this industry. I have been thinking about doing this for more than ten years. He said, "I can only do this, and I can't do anything else!" Many friends who make computer software have this situation. What they do is very dependent on the skills of the work they did in the past. For other things, they may only have ideas, not anything else. Action, this is path dependence. The book "Ability Trap" also discusses this situation at length. Interested friends can read it.
Many technical partners tend to overestimate the value of technology. In a business environment, technology is actually only a part of it and serves business operations. Don't take technology too seriously, which will help you to better examine yourself. Cost reduction and efficiency increase are the business of the enterprise and also related to you. If you don’t understand it, it is easy to be taken advantage of by cost reduction and efficiency increase. This is also the path dependence of enterprises. Technology is not that important to many enterprises. Even if it costs hundreds of millions to make, cutting it off is only a blink of an eye decision.
Talking about the "midlife crisis", many friends will say: Don't talk about looking for the cause within yourself, this is entirely a problem of the general environment and society. This is an indisputable fact, but it cannot be an excuse to avoid the problem. It is easy to be a critic, but it is difficult to build. Complaining and blaming capitalists cannot solve the problem. What everyone can do is start to change where they can, that is, take action in your circle of influence. Criticism is very simple and easy, but it is much more difficult to give constructive opinions or take action. People are willing to avoid the important and take the easy, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.
Path dependence is like genes. It is very difficult to change. There is a strong relationship between how much you can achieve and whether you can break through dependence. If you treat it as a problem, he will treat it as a problem. If you don't take it seriously, it's just that. Once you see it, you'll be open-minded. There is no turning point in many things, mostly because you have to go all the way to the dark side. There may not be a turning point in the peak, there may not be a bright flower in the dark, and the end of suffering may not mean that it will be sweet, and it may be even more bitter. It doesn’t have to be pointing at the south wall to wake you up, that’s what a painful realization that would be.
—Extended reading—
Breaking the 35-year-old mid-life crisis
After seeing so much excitement, has AI helped you solve practical problems?
After interviewing dozens of middle- and senior-level companies, you must understand these things