The MAtrix

Inspired by people like JP. Thank you.

The Matrix has you...

- Ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or dreaming?

- How did you do that?

- Right now, all I can tell you... is that you're in danger. They're watching you, Neo.

- Who is?

- Please just listen. I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing. I know why you hardly sleep... why you live alone and why, night after night... you sit at your computer. You're looking for him. I know, because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me... he told me I wasn't really looking for him...

- ...I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us, Neo.

- It's the question that brought you here. You know the question... just as I did.

- What is the Matrix?

So what is the Matrix? Matrix is the existing software culture that has us all playing by it's rules. Matrix is the classic waterfall with the big fat design up front, if you wish. Matrix is the culture of lonely stars "ruling" the code-world, or at least the imaginary worlds they create.

What is the question? Question is what doesn't let you fit nicely into the Matrix, causing discomfort and feeling of bad taste in your mouth, while you trying to digest it. Question is your passion to something that can be better, and you know that Matrix is not it.

- The answer is out there, Neo. It's looking for you. And it will find you... if you want it to.

The answer is not single, these are multiple answers. Answers are Alternatives. You won't have answers, until you embrace alternatives. You won't have answers, until you try the alternatives. You won't have answers, until you are honest enough with yourself and make the decision.

Bzzz - bzzz - bzzz - bzzzz

-Oh shit!

Shit - that's how reality looks like when you wake up to it in the morning, with a great tune of the buzzing clock. But is it? You know this is not the reality you want to leave, you know that you can do more and better. You know that the answers will help you to get where you want to be. All you need to do is answer the question(s). Or at least try to. Yes, you will try to get the answer to your question(s) and by that change the stinky reality. And right then the reality kicks into the next gear. Reverse.

- You believe that you are special, that the rules do not apply to you. Obviously, you are mistaken. This is one of the top software companies in the world... because employees understand they are part of a whole.

And back you are to your beloved desk and sad reality.

- Hello, Neo. Do you know who this is?

- Morpheus.

- Yes. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you. But unfortunately, you and I have run out of time.

We all need such a call. A wake up call. A call that will make it clear that something has to change in how you do things. The way you think, the way you work. A wake up call to realize that time is not your ally, but the worse enemy, and if you don't act, answers will remain unrevealed.

- Please, Neo, you have to trust me.

- Why?

- Because you have been down there. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be.

When the time comes to make some painful decisions, we chicken out. We normally do, because it's different, it's new, it's unknown, it doesn't feel familiar and the comfort is gone. Unknown feels so heavy when possession of already accumulated knowledge makes you feel so great about yourself. But deep inside you know that that road is not for you, there's nothing left for you. You have traveled that road and it's not the one that takes you to the answers.

- Let me give you one piece of advice. Be honest.

Giving and taking advices is easy. Following those is tougher. Be honest with yourself, your skills, you abilities. Am I as good as I want to be thought of? Am I adding value by what I do? Am I making any difference, or just doing the same old thing is some other trivial way? Am I honest about answering the questions I face? Honesty is the key to loose the unnecessary fears that are roadblocks to the answers you are looking for. At least it serves as a good kick off point.

- I imagine... that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice... tumbling down the rabbit hole?

- You could say that.

- I can see it in your eyes.

- You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees... because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth.

Find the people who will see what you going through in your eyes, wise people who can sense what you going through to show you a hint to what you are looking for.

- It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes... to blind you from the truth.

- What truth?

- That you are a slave. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage... born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Remember... all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.

The blue pill for me is falling back into old habits. Waterfall, BDUFs, cubical, DB driven designs. The red pill for me is Agile, TDD, open communication, team, openness. I choose the red pill not only to know how deep the rabbit hole goes, but also to test my abilities to go even deeper. I choose the red pill, because I prefer bitter truth to sweeter illusion. I choose the red pill because I want the truth. And my truth is that I still have the dream and on my way of achieving it.

Don't abandon your dream. Don't live in Matrix.