without_scope

Jay Fields originally got me thinking and writing the first draft of this with his “Developers needed; Hackers need not apply” post. By his definition, I’m a long time hacker. I’m in recovery now and feel like I’m far more of a developer at this point.

Confession time…

For too long I worked in very small companies where I was the only developer. A few times I was the only one with any technical experience and yeah, that was in technology startups. This led to them leaning too much on me for the overall direction of the products which in turn led me to think I’m qualified to make those decisions on my own.

If you’re a developer, that’s a path destined for failure. You’ll likely make things more complicated than they need to be which will take longer to develop. Talk to everyone you can about the project and really listen. This sounds absolutely ridiculous and basic when typed out but, some people can’t even make that step, I know I couldn’t.

Recovery

Only through time and frustration did I realize there was something wrong with my thinking. I largely credit getting more involved with the development community as a whole with my real recovery. I think I was too isolated to come to the realization on my own.

Meeting other developers who I truly respected was the real turning point. Stephen Caudill, Chris Saylor, Bruno Miranda and Ryan Leavengood to name a few. These are all incredibly talented developers with varied experiences who’ve taught me the humility all true developers need to be successful.

The Ruby community as a whole deserves credit as well. These ideals are better expressed by this community than any other I’ve seen.

To be a good developer is to be humble. To realize you alone will not make a project successful. Sheer force of will doesn’t translate into a usable interface or a solid brand.

The part where I’m a bit of a contrarian

Shortly after the “Developers” post Jay followed up with “Civics not Cadillacs.” He’s absolutely on point with this post as well but, this one is more of a high-wire act.

Let me really abuse his car metaphor a bit.

What happens when you’re told the airbags and seat-belts should be considered a version 2 feature? How about when you’re asked to propose a stopping mechanism other than brakes with “I saw a promising solution on the Flintstones once” tossed in for good measure.

I know Jay wasn’t suggesting to abandon development best practices at the drop of the hat. I do think that it needs to be clear that some things a good developer just won’t sacrifice.

It’s our jobs as developers to balance the business needs and proper development. That balancing act needs to include extensive collaboration with the rest of the business.

They probably hate you already

Anyone that knows me in person knows that I’m very opinionated. I do tend to tone it down online though. I’ve written several blog posts and chose to scrap them because I worried I would offend someone. Many times it was someone I respected.

I did this because text and my questionable writing skills just don’t convey the tongue-in-cheek nature with which I want to deliver some of my thoughts.

Then I read “Losing Twitter Followers is a Good Thing” by Steve Bristol. Yet again, it’s another simple and obvious concept; just be yourself. I wish I knew why I need other people to blog about common sense for me to finally get it.

As a developer you’re paid for your opinions. Don’t be afraid to share them. Just have the common sense to temper them with the realities of the business while maintaining your integrity.

Simple enough.