People who want to study earthquakes need to go where there are fault lines. People who want to solve hard problems need to go where those problems live.
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My biggest piece of advice to people just entering civic tech was always: a little bit of selfishness will make you good at this job.
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I’ve watch plenty of smart, hard working people spend years on programs to do good, only to get the data back in year five and realize — to their horror — that the system they were trying to fix had adapted to their thoughtful reforms and made the problem worse
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People who are purely altruistic get too wound up trying to force the system to change. It becomes a sunk costs problem. The more they give up to do good, the harder a negative outcome is to accept, the more they continue to give up to salvage their legacy. They tend to burnout and when they burnout they get destructive and abusive.On the other hand, people who have pragmatic and slightly selfish goals in addition to wanting the do good are more resilient. If the system change they envision doesn’t work out, they still have something to show for all their efforts. That keeps them grounded and calm for much longer in the same environment.
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- [note::Purely altruistic people -> Eventually burnout after things don't go according to plan
Pragmatic and slightly selfish people -> Have something to show when things don't go according to plan]

We can prioritize what problems we tackle based on the question: does this problem block or otherwise negatively effect my goals?
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Examples of goals that are just a little bit selfish but not destructively so in moderation are: wanting a step up the career ladder, wanting to add experience with something to your resume, wanting to get your hands dirty on a particular issue and learn more about it, wanting to travel or the opportunity to work with certain people, wanting to try out a particular theory of yours, wanting to leverage the organization’s brand to increase your market value by association.
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go where you are rare; go where you are common. Meaning there are huge advantages to being among people who think like you do and see the world the way you do, but the most impact to be made is often in places where your voice and perceptive is unique.
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struggles build social capital
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the characteristics of the commonality are determined by problems this group will provide support for
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So when defining the space where you are common, you want to think about what set of problems are you likely to deal with that you are willing to accept and ignore in order to achieve your goals
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It’s more important to make people feel seen and listened to. To allow them to offload the emotional burden of these problems so that they can stay focused and get shit done.
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‘problems I need to solve’ and ‘problems I will accept because I need to direct that energy elsewhere.’
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The existence of a problem that is bothering someone else does not necessarily mean YOU need to stay late at work, give up holidays, disrupt your personal time, justify why you turn down meeting invites to discuss better diversity/inclusion/governance/compliance/environmental impact/etc, etc, etc….
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An important caveat to my advice about goal setting and boundary defining is that you are more likely to succeed with other people on your side and the best way to get other people on your side is by dedicating a certain amount of your time and energy to helping them solve some of the problems on their goal list.
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