The Soul of a New Machine

by Tracy Kidder

Among the reasons cited are the nature of the jobs themselves and the restrictive ways in which they are managed. Among the terms used to describe their malaise are declining technical challenge; misutilization; limited freedom of action; tight control of working patterns

Danger made life interesting, but anxiety gets tiring after a while.

“That’s the bear trap, the greatest vice. Your job. You can justify just about any behavior with it. Maybe that’s why you do it, so you don’t have to deal with all those other problems.”

‘It is axiomatic that when a diesel engine fails while underway, that there is a fuel problem.’

A town hires a gunslinger to clean it up, but when he’s taken care of their problem, he’s still a gunslinger and sooner or later the respectable citizens are going to run him out of town.

Rasala observed the battle with mounting anxiety and then with resignation. Most people, at one time or another in their careers as adults, reenact the molting of their adolescences.

He’s beginning to teach me the loose ends. I get the strange feeling I’m in finishing school.”

Downstairs, remembering that the Eclipse Group had once been called “a strong foundation,” one of the team asked, “If we’re such a great foundation, who are we holding up?”

West added: “It was a summer romance. But that’s all right. Summer romances are some of the best things that ever happen.”

“What motivates people?” he asked. He answered his own question, saying, “Ego and the money to buy things that they and their families want.”