Oh wow. What he’s describing really resonates with me. Working in software, I feel it’s almost dichotomous in its nature that people absolutely coast or absolutely give a damn. It can be so difficult to work on a coasting team. And otherwise, it’s torture to your soul not to give a damn around people who do (if you care, I guess).
In his role I can see that being a genuine struggle, arguably worse than what I’ve encountered. I’ve rarely had agency to effect change, or even the illusion of it. In his case, it must have felt as though he should be able to get things on course somehow. That would be frustrating.
It resonates the exact same way with me. I hope our industry can start having higher standards, or at least start respecting leadership with high standards. 5% GPU usage is abysmal and it does seem to be reflective of the engineering culture (from knowing other people at Meta).
In his role I can see that being a genuine struggle, arguably worse than what I’ve encountered. I’ve rarely had agency to effect change, or even the illusion of it. In his case, it must have felt as though he should be able to get things on course somehow. That would be frustrating.