Life as a Systems Engineer
Before J.A.Q. and the Multiverse, there was Life as a Systems Engineer.
The series began as a day-in-the-life narrative starting at 0430. It introduced the systems engineer as the person responsible for turning ambiguity, competing priorities, and technical constraints into something a team could actually build.
At its core, the series explores the gap between what the system requires, what the organization understands, and what the calendar allows.
The crashes are unexpected. The meetings are poorly timed. The “simple changes” are rarely simple. Through it all, the systems engineer keeps tracing relationships, challenging assumptions, and exposing the consequences everyone else missed.
Read J.A.Q. for the organization. Read the Multiverse for the pattern. Read LA²SE for the engineer living with the consequences.
Weeks on record
Endless SE Work.....
143 filesA Standard Corporate Week
A systems engineer narrates his week, starting with a Monday crash, moving through unproductive strategy meetings and client miscommunications, and finally finding joy in logging off on Friday.
A Week In Corporate Hell
A systems engineer documents his daily grind, reflecting on the futility of sprint reviews, abstract product visions, and an endless barrage of notifications from collaborative tools before finding brief solace on Friday evening.
A Week Of Corporate Despair
A systems engineer narrates his work week through five daily panels, reflecting on the frustration of back-to-back meetings, client requests, ownership responsibilities, unproductive brainstorms, and the relief of Friday.
A Standard Corporate Week
A systems engineer documents the absurdity of his work week, from contradictory management meetings in March to software that overrides his calendar, corporate jargon, manipulated data metrics, and demands to recharge undermined by immediate after-hours alerts.
A Week Of Corporate Futility
A systems engineer chronicles his work week, starting with an unproductive meeting about a competitor's launch and ending with an exhausting video call. Along the way, he struggles with dark mode settings, unhelpful IT advice, and a calendar packed with endless sync meetings.
A Week Of Corporate Existentialism
Across five days, a systems engineer observes the decline of office productivity through chaotic project management, nonsensical roadmaps, recursive retrospective meetings, and finally, closing their laptop with a philosophical detachment from the workplace.
Tryin' to Get Shit Done in Product Development
157 filesThe story of the Systems Engineer
110 files
