We can look at the tech industry from numerous different angles and find multiple archetypes and dichotomies; Builder and Problem Solvers or Craftspeople and Pragmatists. None of these are entirely valid dichotomies, but they are interesting to think about. There is one such dichotomy that as of late, this has been on my mind a lot more.
Strip Miners
Strip miners, in mining and in tech, find a rich seam and optimize for extraction. Maximum wage, maximum flexibility, maximum benefit, minimum obligation. They want the upside of a high-demand industry without the responsibility that comes with it. They want the stock without the ownership mindset. They want the growth budget while resenting any expectation that their growth serve the work they were hired to do. They want the title without the stretch. They want the raise before the results.
Every interaction is a transaction. What more can I get?
Some are loud about it, rallying others around their grievances, broadcasting every perceived injustice from the rooftop.
Some are quiet about it, at least having done enough introspection and possessing the intellectual honesty to quietly operate that way on their own.
Loud or quiet, the math is the same. Take more than you give. And if anyone notices, act like the victim.
Stewards
Stewards are different. Not because they give blindly or work themselves to death. But because they see themselves as part of something. They invest in their craft because the industry demands it and they respect themselves enough to stay capable. They put in more than the minimum because half-assing it offends them. They leave every team, every codebase, every client relationship better than they found it.
Every interaction is an opportunity. What more can we create?
Some are visibly generous with their time, knowledge, and energy. They pull others up without being asked.
Some are quietly excellent, heads down, leaving things better than they found them without fanfare.
Visible or quiet, the math is the same. Give more than you take. And if anyone notices, keep going.
End of an Era
The tech boom of the last decade rewarded stewards and strip miners similarly. Talent was scarce, money was cheap, and companies fell over themselves to retain people. Even people who were quietly running the numbers on how to get out with maximum yield. We called it support. We called it culture. Some of it was. A lot of it was just fear dressed up as empathy.
That era is over.
AI is rapidly reducing the demand. Clients are cutting. The seams are drying up. The market is done subsidizing extraction.
Stewards focus on creating value. When the market shifts, they figure out how to keep contributing. They are perpetually employable.
Strip miners focus on extracting value. When the market tightens, the seam runs out and the extraction ends. They are no longer employable. And, frankly, should have never been.
Which one are you?
What are you going to do now that AI is shifting the market? Create value or hunt for the next seam to extract from?
Me? I have value to create.