Rob Pike in the “Things to Do” section of his February 2000 paper while working at Bell Labs:

Go back to thinking about and building systems. Narrowness is irrelevant; breadth is relevant: it’s the essence of system.

Work on how systems behave and work, not just how they compare. Concentrate on interfaces and architecture, not just engineering.

Be courageous. Try different things; experiment. Try to give a cool demo.

Get involved in the details.