I've been watching this and trying to figure out a response. I've typed up a couple things, but I was never happy with it and some editing wasn't going to fix it. Maybe this one will also get condemmed to the bit bucket by way of the back button in Firefox.
My answer to the original question is that I'm not, and I'm really sorry if you are. There are certainly things that are worth being angry about, but those things should be super important, they should be things that are within your power to change, and it should be a short-term project. Otherwise, you're just driving yourself to an early grave via a route that isn't particularly pleasant.
The company I work for is a really great place for me and on the net, I really enjoy working there. But we're not without our idiosyncrasies and, frankly, we do a lot of dumb stuff that can be really frustrating at times. There are days where it seems like we succeed in spite of ourselves, you know? Having been here for twenty years, I've seen a lot of people come in and see the madness and announce that they're here to fix that thing and they're going to make it all better. So I came up with this theory that working for this company is sort of like the stages of grief.
First you deny it: Things can't really be this effed up at a billion-dollar company, right? Surely we don't actually do things that way.
Next you get really mad about it: How can you idiots not see how effed up things are!? Why doesn't anybody do anything about it.
From there you move in to negotiation: You'll try to convince people that things would be better if they did it your way and you'll write up business cases and all sorts of creative excrement that, frankly, everyone will say "yeah, you're right. We should do that" as they're tossing it into the circular filing cabinet.
This next stage is where the short-timers exit the bus: You get all down and try to figure out what you were thinking taking a job at some penny-ante, second-rate outfit that is populated entirely by dipE36 M3s.
And finally, if you stick through all of that, your reward: Acceptance. You know that things are stupid, but it's our stupid. It's how it works. It doesn't surprise you anymore. Sometimes, there's a small opportunity to make things better on the margins and you do that. Over geological timeframes, those marginal changes will add up to something, but you're not going to boil the ocean. You realize that the quirks and stupid stuff are all closely related to the really nice stuff about working here. You just can't have one without the other. When you hit a wall because of our institutional foibles and can't get something done that seems to make a lot of sense you no longer get upset about it, you just realize that it's the way things are. Once you reach that stage you discover how you can maneuver within that system to make a pretty decent living and keep your stress level down and have a decently long career while also getting our customers what they need and want.
I guess that's a loquacious version of the old prayer: Grant me the strength to change the things I can change, the serenity to handle the things I can't change, and the wisdom to know the difference. That's pretty much how I try to approach life. There's so much going on out there that I can't do a thing about, there's no reason to let it eat away at my life. Inflation? Yep, but all I can do is make sure I arrange my finances so that I can make it through. Pandemic? Sure, just do what I can to balance safety with living my life. Lewis gets a bad call from Masi and doesn't win the WDC? Well, when they put me in charge of Libery Media or the FIA I'll look in to that. My daughter isn't doing well in Geometry? Ah! There's something I can take action on and produce a measurable result! Dogs made muddy footprints all over the tile? Mop time! The world just needs a little more kindess? How about some volunteering to make a couple folks' day just a little bit brighter?
Just choose where you're going to spend your energy. You can yell at the tide to go back all day but the only one you're going to affect is yourself and it won't make you any better. Despite what the Internet and the cable news folks try to sell you, the world is a really big place and you're just a tiny little part of a tiny little part of it. You're going to get pissed off from time to time. You're going to see things that are unfair and life isn't going to be going your way. But don't let it consume you.
So, yeah. I'm not angry. I'm not disappointed. I'm not any of that stuff. I'm just hopeful and just trying to live my best life and I really hope you can too! (live your own best life, I mean. I don't need you trying to live my own best life for me. You might do it better that I can, and frankly, I just don't want the competition!)
