Gratitude: Standing on the Shoulders of Thousands

I was listening to a recording of Mahler’s 5th Symphony the other day, and it got me thinking…

When Gustav Mahler composed it in 1902, he couldn’t have imagined the wild journey it would take from his pen to my ears, or all the people who would be a part of it. Here are just a few people who made that trip possible:

• The performers
• Their music teachers
• The people who made their instruments
• The people who pioneered digital recording
• The people at Apple who built the iTunes store
• The people who invented WiFi
• The people who built my iPhone and earbuds

Not to mention the people who came before Mahler, evolving the Symphonic genre and helping to shape his style – or the audiences who have made his works so popular and enduring over the years.

So, for that hour and change of my musical enjoyment, I can thank hundreds of thousands of people, and the MILLIONS of hours of hard work that they contributed.

The author A. J. Jacobs recognized this, and his book “Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey” details how he traveled the world thanking everyone who had contributed to his morning cup of coffee. A fascinating idea!

Just like music and good coffee, software development is an art form that is built on the accomplishments of those who came before. When you sit down to write an iOS app, think of everyone who made it possible:

• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, for the Apple ecosystem
• Benjamin Franklin, for electricity
• Modern-day consumers, who made the iPhone so popular
• George Orwell, for writing “1984” – which inspired the Apple commercial that really put them back on the map
• The developers who built and maintain Xcode, and the developers of the tools that theyuse, all the way back to Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++ (though of course his work was an extension of many others)

We are part of a vast, evolving ecosystem. Maybe the purpose behind what we do isn’t just making money or building the next Big Thing. Maybe the real purpose is to extend the work of those who came before us. And when we put our creations out in the world, future generations will build on that!

So when you do write that app, or build a website, or start a business, take a moment to think of the folks who have made it possible. Approach your work with gratitude, and know that everything you do is contributing to the big picture!

Jeff Nordquist is a software developer, leader, mentor, and entrepreneur. He loves thinking and writing about this stuff! You can reach him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffnordquist), on Twitter (@jeffnordquist), or via email at jeffnordquist@me.com. He’d love to hear your thoughts!