Aphorism: When you come across a turtle sitting on a fence post …
Posted by swlc on March 16, 2009
Heard this on NPR – “When you come across a turtle sitting on a fence post, it didn’t get there by itself.”
Now I’m not advocating abusing our turtles. I do think this is a picturesque American farm aphorism.
I think this aphorism does capture the support we all get to be where we are. We shouldn’t forget that when we start feeling “important”, or when we look at someone else and wonder what special talents they had to succeed. I’ve also been thinking about this in context of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, “Outliers”, which explores how skill, opportunity, support and long hours of practice combine, often by chance, to create successful careers.
I think this is particularly appropos of software development. I’ve had a number of people who were mentors for me, often as not unknowingly. They were just the type of guys that loved engineering, and wanted to help a young guy who also loved engineering.
Right out of school, I was working at General Dynamics, and sitting right across from a fellow by the name of Don Romary. I really didn’t know diddly, having just graduated from Michigan Tech. Don would call me over to show me something interesting he was working on, or to ask me about what I was working on. Don embodied quiet confidence. Among many things I learned, I clearly remember Don telling me “If you pick a good man for the job, he’ll learn what ever he needs to get it done.”
I’ve remembered that throughout the years. I’ve always tried to be less interested in specific skills when hiring engineers, and more interested in their desire, creativity and ability to learn. We all need to keep learning, and we learn best on projects.
Give somebody a break, and throw them into a project over their head. Hire that Java developer to do C#, or a C++ developer to do AJAX work. Look at the person, not just the skills. They might not be as productive in the first month or two, but you’ll be helping a fellow engineer and building a stronger organization.
Be the change you want to see happen.
