I want to draw your attention to a slice of thought I came across earlier today. If you have not already read the Awesomeness Manifesto then do it now. I found it quite inspiring.

Here’s the meat of it:

What is awesomeness? Awesomeness happens when thick — real, meaningful — value is created by people who love what they do, added to insanely great stuff, and multiplied by communities who are delighted and inspired because they are authentically better off. That’s a better kind of innovation …

Awesomeness is something to strive for. I don’t think you can just start producing awesomeness right off the bat as a developer. It takes time to build up to, but I believe the ingredients for this cupcake is plentiful in the realm of iPhone development. We have some insanely great stuff (the platform and tools), and a booming community of users.

We have to pack the value and delight in our product, and love doing it.

What is important, though, is the striving. Too many simply don’t because it goes against the grain of corporate culture to produce true awesomeness. There are a few companies that do manage it. They are rare.

I’ve talked to many boardrooms about awesomeness. Beancounters feel challenged and threatened by it, because it feels fuzzy and imprecise. Yet, it’s anything but. … It’s a precise concept, with meaning, depth, and resonance.

Indie developers have the advantage in that we’re passionate about what we do. Of course we like making money, but that’s not really all that matters to us. We bring the love too. If we do it right, there is a shimmer of awesomeness in our work. People notice.