Saying “I catch fish” is as descriptive as the first guy saying “sales analyst”. Second person is a software developer, third guy is a systems architect. So you catch fish? Sure. What kind? On a river? In the ocean? Do you really just press a button that rolls up a big net full of turtles and dolphins as well and you’re destroying the delicate balance of a fragile ecosystem? Are you a fishing guide?
Anyone can describe their job in three words. Understanding it is on you, man.
The whole concept is more akin to whether or not you are working directly with the material fruits of your labor, or if you’re some secondary or tertiary job to the actual work being done.
Basically, their view is that if you are not directly making the product or apart of the physical logistics for that product, then you’re in a bullshit job. I would not say I agree with the philosophy myself, but i kind of get it. ‘I farm Corn’, ‘I Truck frozen food’, and ‘I catch fish’, do exist in a very different realm from ‘I manage a team of QA specialists’, ‘I am an Advertisement Consultant’, and ‘I contribute to my company’s server backend codebase’.
The problem, to me, is that not everyone on a boat is catching fish. There are plenty of different roles. It’s just that people outside the industry don’t have a concept of the nuanced differences between roles, so it gets simplified to “I catch fish” even if they aren’t involved in catching fish at all. Most people outside of tech have no idea between the different roles that exist in tech either. It wasn’t too long ago where no matter your role in tech, you’d tell laymen, “I work in IT” as a catchall for any technical role
Saying “I catch fish” is as descriptive as the first guy saying “sales analyst”. Second person is a software developer, third guy is a systems architect. So you catch fish? Sure. What kind? On a river? In the ocean? Do you really just press a button that rolls up a big net full of turtles and dolphins as well and you’re destroying the delicate balance of a fragile ecosystem? Are you a fishing guide?
Anyone can describe their job in three words. Understanding it is on you, man.
The whole concept is more akin to whether or not you are working directly with the material fruits of your labor, or if you’re some secondary or tertiary job to the actual work being done.
Basically, their view is that if you are not directly making the product or apart of the physical logistics for that product, then you’re in a bullshit job. I would not say I agree with the philosophy myself, but i kind of get it. ‘I farm Corn’, ‘I Truck frozen food’, and ‘I catch fish’, do exist in a very different realm from ‘I manage a team of QA specialists’, ‘I am an Advertisement Consultant’, and ‘I contribute to my company’s server backend codebase’.
Also, yeah, the 3-word rule of thumb sucks.
The problem, to me, is that not everyone on a boat is catching fish. There are plenty of different roles. It’s just that people outside the industry don’t have a concept of the nuanced differences between roles, so it gets simplified to “I catch fish” even if they aren’t involved in catching fish at all. Most people outside of tech have no idea between the different roles that exist in tech either. It wasn’t too long ago where no matter your role in tech, you’d tell laymen, “I work in IT” as a catchall for any technical role
Thank you for your insight.
The concept is still bullshit. You can describe any job in three words to the same extent that “I catch fish” is informative. That’s all I’m saying.
What does a Astronaut do in 3 words?
Go to space
Vacuum the moon.