The fact that Valve released a Portal 2 OST with Lisp references in song titles alone, explains why Valve is an unique place to work at. You don’t tile Mecca with the finest marble, though. Vestiges of greatness always simmer through the product.
Ship great, but don’t take forever. Make awesomely great products. Some people never get this, and get lost in a sea of mediocrity, others, perhaps, are complacent with meritocracy. Some are trapped in the netherlands, others are zombies from the stone age.
I loathe unnecessary compromises, and this daily fear of becoming a compromiser haunted me. It took a long, long time for me to learn how to be pragmatic, without losing my soul.
