Working as a developer, you usually don’t own the product. Your involvement with it might just be a small part of its lifecycle. You join the project for a while, try to do some good, and eventually step out, moving on to the next thing.
This happens with people, too. You might work with someone for a long time or a short time, depending on their moves and your moves. You work alongside them for a while, try to do some good, and eventually step away, moving on to the next team.
That “try to do some good” part can involve helping the product get better, and it can involve helping the people get better. Those aren’t mutually exclusive, but sometimes they do conflict: Should we slow down a bit and help Bob learn this new thing, or do we really just need to get this work done, now now now?
And sometimes, on a terrible project, in an awful business context, you can still find great fulfillment by serving your teammates.
