Working on projects or working on products? Which is for you? Both provide for interesting, stimulating work with difficult problems to solve. Which are you personally going to derive the most satisfaction from? Well, I have a theory, or, a way of phrasing the question that has helped others in the past and might help you.

• When you are working on projects you will sit down with someone with a problem. You’ll get to know that person and their problem intimately and personally. Hopefully you’ll then solve their problem and leave them in happier and better place. All thanks to the expertise you have imparted.

• When you are working on products you will not have this personal connection with your customers. Instead you will attempt to imagine how all the possible customers in the world could potentially want to use your product. You’ll try to place yourself in an enormous range of situations and attempt to make each of those a bit better. Hopefully, if your product is completed and a success in the market then you will have made the world a better place for a huge range of people. None of whom you’ll ever know.

So… satisfaction from helping just a few people you know well, or satisfaction from helping a huge range of people you’ll never know? Of course, if you do choose to work on projects then you’re guaranteed to help people, whereas products succeed far less often.