Way back in 2015 there was an article in the New York Times [1][2] that included a quote from a former long time employee, "Amazon is where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves." While I personally didn't see many of the things covered in that piece, this part of the article resonated with me.
We do bold things, tackle really hard challenges, and also have intrinsic aspects of the business that involve managing risk of human life. As engineers I think we have a professional responsibility to be robust in how we solve problems, and also how we build safe systems. It is a huge responsibility, and one that I, and the people around me, take EXTREMELY seriously. From an outcomes perspective, is is healthy to never be satisfied with how well we are doing (and we, generally, aren't). From a mental health perspective, we also have a responsibility to be mindful of those impacts for those who build the systems, and those who run these businesses.
