13. Embracing Uncertainty

Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, once introduced a concept: events that seem utterly impossible happen when we least expect them, and for the most part, we cannot predict them—yet they deliver an immense impact.

COVID-19 in 2020 was the perfect example. Under the weight of the pandemic, the way people lived and worked changed entirely. Countless businesses went under or filed for bankruptcy because they simply couldn’t hold on, with things only starting to turn around in 2023.

As I approach the end of my first month after resigning, I feel an unparalleled sense of freedom and joy.

At the same time, in order to push toward the next milestone, I find myself working and coding almost every single day.

After being kept in a corporate “pen” for so long, stepping out of my comfort zone made me realize just how much I’m actually capable of doing. It also gradually dawned on me that many of the office grievances and grumbles, when compared to the anxiety and uncertainty of not having a steady paycheck, are utterly trivial.

Because of this shift, I’ve had conversations and collaboration opportunities with both new and old friends, encountering projects I find genuinely fascinating. Even if the companies are virtually unknown, I’m thrilled to have the chance to connect and lend a hand.

If I had stayed at my corporate job, these opportunities probably never would have materialized.

Throughout my time as a developer, I frequently experimented with new technologies. Since my assigned responsibilities spanned frontend, backend, and SRE domains, I became well-versed in many software development best practices. Beyond frontend work, I also learned how to set up servers and design systems capable of handling high traffic. (The secret sauce, really, was just studying DDIA thoroughly and putting it into practice.)

It might not seem like much at first glance, but recent freelancing has shown me that this is actually a rare and valuable asset. Some outsourced teams lack the ability to architect properly, resulting in bloated, unmaintainable code that introduces needless complexity; or their deployment pipelines are inefficient, and choosing unsuitable cloud providers blows up infrastructure costs.

Later on, the author published Antifragile, echoing the theme of The Black Swan and explaining how we can combat uncertainty. One approach is being extremely aggressive in certain areas while extremely conservative in others, thereby keeping overall risk strictly bounded.

As I mentioned in my first post, even though a job can have its challenging and exciting moments, you can hardly avoid the issues inherent to large companies. (Well, that’s another kind of uncertainty.)

1. 三十歲裸辭

Writing and publishing articles here is probably a form of antifragility too.

Warning

Never quit impulsively! Quitting without a backup plan might sound cool and authentic, but living without a paycheck is a very serious matter. Without income coming in, you are prone to making desperate moves, which directly impairs the quality of your decisions.

However, if you’re entertaining similar thoughts, you might want to start by asking yourself these questions:

• How long can my current savings sustain my living expenses?
• Without a full-time job, what services or products could I offer?
• What skills do I find effortless that others struggle with? What do colleagues usually compliment me on?
• If I launch a service or product, would I feel comfortable pitching it to the people around me?
• Can I test the waters during my spare time after work first?

Do you have any tips for staying antifragile? Feel free to drop me an email at me@kalan.dev to let me know!