Why I do what I do | Malaika Aiyar

The idea of wanting to do hard, important work with great people is common enough to be a platitude. But when I try to articulate what makes me feel most alive, that's basically it. Difficulty, importance, ownership, people. The domain doesn't seem to matter; I've felt this doing research, software, events, art. It's the shape of the work, not the content. Difficulty can be genuinely hard work but also tight deadlines, seemingly impossible constraints, decisions under uncertainty, context that requires hours to understand. Things that I struggle to hold in my hand but seek to, things that we make theories about to compress them. Importance: does this reach people? Does it matter? Even the feeling of importance counts: I'm not above being motivated by narrative, something difficulty often adds. To be aware of. Ownership means building over fixing over commenting. Am I uniquely placed to do this? If not, why me? This is probably where the deepest purpose actually lives, and is again high

The idea of wanting to do hard, important work with great people is common enough to be a platitude. But when I try to articulate what makes me feel most alive, that's basically it. Difficulty, importance, ownership, people. The domain doesn't seem to matter; I've felt this doing research, software, events, art. It's the shape of the work, not the content. Difficulty can be genuinely hard work but also tight deadlines, seemingly impossible constraints, decisions under uncertainty, context that requires hours to understand. Things that I struggle to hold in my hand but seek to, things that we m