VIR-III-0029
“Everyone around me cut the corner and I just didn't.”
The shortcut was normalized. People you respect took it. Taking it yourself would have cost nothing and saved a lot, and no one would have thought less of you. You did the longer, right thing instead, quietly, without lecturing anyone. You're not better than them. You just held your own line, and a line held when it's easy to drop is a line that's actually yours.
Your Practice
- Do the right version and say nothing about the others doing the wrong one.
- Notice you weren't trying to be seen as principled. You just were.
- Don't expect reward. The corner you didn't cut may never be noticed. Do it anyway.
- Let the consistency compound. Over time, a held line becomes a reputation.
The Architects
“I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.”
Linus Torvalds, Usenet post announcing Linux, comp.os.minix newsgroup, August 25, 1991