I was trundling through my usual collection of daily links yesterday morning (before diving into my work), and I stumbled on a link to a recent blog post by a chap called Peter Wright. There are a couple of reasons why this blog post caught my eye.
First of all, during my time in the U.K. over the last couple of years, I worked for a company in London that Peter also worked at. I’d been at the company for a few months doing some contract work when Peter was taken on board. No doubt Peter wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap, such as the nature of people who are too focussed on their own egos than the people they work with. I, however, remember him for a few reasons. More on this later.
Secondly, the content of the blog was primarily a blast at Microsoft for apparently letting him down, a blast at those he perceives to be “muppets”, and a generic whinge about not being recognised or valued - which (surprise surprise) got me thinking 
So, a bit of background. I was never formally introduced to Peter at any point. In fact, the attitude that Peter had while at work was that everyone should automatically know who he is without a need for introduction. This was immediately apparent the day he was called to stand up in front of the I.T. team and introduce himself. I can’t quite recollect the exact comment but it went something like this:
Hello, I’m Peter Wright. For those of you who don’t know me, I did X, Y and Z for A, B and C, I’ve written 11 books and I’m here as a *insert job title here* to make sure you’re doing J, K and I correctly.
Interesting. Truth be told, I did know Peter’s name through some of his books - books I had avoided looking through due to their apparent “Visual Basic rules the world” focus (I say apparent because I never read them - the plethora of online reviews of his work are what make me think that).
The first thing I thought when I heard his little speech was “you pompous b*stard!”. The man was obviously enjoying riding the waves of MyEgo beach in Wrightland. From that point on my perception of Peter was clouded and I couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t here because he wanted to really achieve great things in software (particularly not the software we were working on). It seemed to me he was here to throw his ample professional weight around.
The following weeks were crammed with Peter acting like the “biggest showoff since Lady Godiva entered the Royal Enclosure at Ascot claiming she had literally nothing to wear”. In my (very) few dealings with him he wasn’t anywhere near as open to ideas as he makes himself out to be in his blog post. Perhaps this is because I hadn’t yet “gained the respect of the man” (something I would never be destined to do as I was working in the trenches with the guys on the code, and generally not preaching as a technical evangelist in the meetings of the mighty)? Perhaps it was because when I did deal with him I didn’t show that I was profoundly amazed and grateful that I was allowed to even enjoy the mere prescence of this apparent supernatural talent? Perhaps it was because I gave the impression that I would judge him by the work that he was going to be doing and not by the fact that he’d made a mint selling VB books? Who knows?! I certainly don’t, and I doubt I ever will. Another question I doubt I’ll ever get an answer to is “Why on Earth was a supposed coding genius and highly-successful author working at this company in this role?!”. I smell something fishy, and I’m not talking about the contents of Baldrick’s apple crumble! [*]
I know a couple of the people that Peter mentioned in his blog, and I completely disagree with is assessment of them. That may sound harsh, but it’s an honest opinion. I believe the main reason that these guys are getting special mentions is due to the fact that they are both Microsoft ‘yes’ men who don’t do anything unless Microsoft tell them to. This just happened to be exactly the way Mr Wright was working at the time. Their interests were aligned, and they bigged and backed each other up as much as they could because it pushed their cause forward. Did any of them really think that their fellow evangelists were any good? I don’t think they cared. I am speculating here - I was fortunate enough to only suffer one, maybe two, of the chest-beating sessions… oops.. I mean meetings.
Enough already.. what’s the point?!
So, to the point(s) of the post! Does your reputation in the I.T. world precede you? If you’re really good will people know it without you having to tell them? Is it true that “If by his work the master known”?
I tend to stick with the last option. I personally believe that when it comes to being a professional, your ability and your level of work will be shown after you’ve put the effort in. If you’re good, your colleagues will know you’re good. If you’re shit, they’ll know you’re shit.
Now, I’ve worked with quite a few people over the course of my career to date. There are very few (and I do mean very few!) that stand out because they’re really good. Absolutely none of those people have attempted in any way to tell me how good they are - their work speaks for them. On the opposite side of the coin, every person that I have considered to be absolute shit have in one way or another attempted to make themselves out to be some form of software development genius. Between these two categories is a selection of people who are mediocre and are just happy to have a job! They do their thing day in day out and just attempt to stay off the radar.
The whole issue of “earning your stripes” is one that we, as professionals, will face every time we move on to a different contrat/job/position/etc. Sure, I’d love it if people knew that I worked on X which did really well and were looking forward to working with me as a result. At the end of the day, you’re only as good as your last performance - and if you suck at what you’re doing then the people around you will think you suck regardless of what you’ve done in the past. I will strive to show people how good I am through the work that I do, and not through any other means. I will not ram my past down other people’s throats, nor will I assume that my delivery of SuperDuperSoftware v10.0 has any bearing on what I’m going to be doing for future clients.
I look forward to meeting more of you who know that your past, while not totally irrelevant, is not as significant as what it is you’ll do the in future. Development is about moving forward, being on the cutting-edge, making some amazing shit happen! Not about stagnating and dwelling on the past.
But what is it that really makes you a good software professional? Is it the code you right? Is it the way you conduct yourself while on-site? Is it your vast knowledge of your domain? Is it your ability to apply things you do know to problems you haven’t previously encountered resulting in a solution?
I think it’s probably a mixture of all of these. Note that chest-beating and technical evangelism doesn’t make an appearance. If you’re good:
- … you know that you don’t know everything.
- … you know that because you don’t know everything there is always a chance to learn more and better yourself.
- … you don’t see other good people as a threat, you see them as an opportunity to help produce something even better than what you would by yourself.
- … you don’t view yourself as the “canine’s genetalia”, instead you find yourself frustrated at other people’s lack of competance.
- … you don’t spend time whinging about the work involved or that the client is a pain in the arse, instead you focus on solving the problems and getting on with the job regardless of the obstacles.
- … you listen to what other people have to say, take it on board and use it to improve that which you already have instead of assuming that your view is correct.
- … you pick up the slack and solve the problem regardless of who made the mistake.
Rob recently posted something interesting over on his blog that he titled The Personality Traits of the Best Developers, which in a few ways relates to what I am saying. Even though he’s talking about developers, I think that the attributes can be applied to almost any industry.
I now have to resist the temptation to cover some thoughts on how to determine whether or not someone is good in an interview - to me it’s a bit of a black art that I don’t think I’ve nailed. I’ll talk about this is another posting down the track 
As a final note: Peter - I’m glad you’ve moved on At least now you’re in a new world where you finally have to admit you don’t know everything. Take this opportunity to wind your neck in. People all over the world switch back and forth between Microsoft, Linux and Apple all the time, and we care about your movements almost as much as we care about their’s - that is, not at all.
September 14, 2006
Nice Blog OJ, I tried to submit this to peter on his blog but I doubt that he will put it up as his ego can’t handle anybody criticism, it goes ……
Quiting is easy. Nobody with any great deal of passion would quit so easily.
I see you hate having to explain yourself about the ‘basics’ of coding to your colleagues. You also mention the term that you are misunderstood and that you are not arrogant but ‘passionate’.
Having seen you at your best in full flow being ‘passionate’ as you call it and explaining the ‘basics’ to a colleague I stood in awe at the rudeness and brashness you poured on to this person.
But hey you are a developer so probably like the ‘Brute force approach’…….
….and I guess now you are a director of a company you will have less problem explaining the basics to your employees…..
Unfortunately you are found to be lacking in communication skills and are devoid of any debating skills. This rings true in your comments about feeling like an abused lover, and Peter here is the crux of the problem for you, the problem is not your tech skill or passion for tech skills but how you communicate your ideas to yourself first and then other people around you.
This is a common problem with technical people, agnostic of technology choices.
If you don’t improve your communication skills I predict that you will be writing a similar blog entry in ten years as you feel the technology has beaten you…again.
It is a shame microsoft…nay! the whole microsoft community, has lost such a talented vb6 author.
September 14, 2006
Hi there,
Yeah B****** was fun wasnt it, and you’re right, I don’t remember you. Sorry to hear that you feel Nayur wasn’t up to much either but they hey, I do also recall the whole team being pissed that he became the team lead rather than one of you lot.
As for the other post, yes I blocked the other posters comment from my blog - it’s a post from my immediate superior and pretty much echoes stuff she already wrote in my review. Same old sour grapes.
September 14, 2006
lol or not.
Now I know who it is. I remember you too OJ - you didn’t stick around long enough to know.
September 15, 2006
No you are right there Peter, Nayur was not up to much either, and the truth be told he has pretty much fucked the IT during his “reign” at B******.
We are now left to pick up the pieces and rebuild the bridges with the Business. As surprising as it may seem to you, we are now doing fine despite the lack of battles (technical conversations) we had with him regarding his views on I.T. (views such as defining regions against each member of a class, plus the Log.BeginMethod and Log.EndMethod calls on each method).
Now that we don’t have these obstacles we can do some proper programming.
Happy Days!
September 15, 2006
I have to admit I’m surprised to see you rock up and take the time to read, let alone pass comment.
I do have a few things to say in response.
First of all, I’m afraid I don’t agree with you re: your comment on the feelings of the development team upon Nayur’s appointment to team lead. I actually feel I am in a much better position to comment on the feelings of the development team, since I actually made the effort to know them while I was there. The guys in the development team were not hoping for “one of their own” (as you’re implying) to be lead - they were just expecting to have someone at the helm who would think for themselves and not just preach whatever Microsoft says is currently the best practice. I have no doubt that Nayur has his strengths, but the time that I spent with him was less than productive and I expected more from someone in that position. Blind following of the latest techno rant on Microsoft.com does not make for good leadership.
Should I find it strange that you refer to “one of you lot” rather than “one of us lot”? Probably not. Your style of work doesn’t involve integrating with the team as you clearly feel that your views are enough. Perhaps if you’d taken the time to get to know and work with some of the people that you probably considered to be below you, you would have realised that the team was not a “boys club”, as you so thoughtfully imply, but rather a collection of professionals trying to write good software while being led by someone who wasn’t fit for the job.
It’s a shame you didn’t allow the other comment to be posted on your site regardless of your reasons. Surely it’s beneficial to all readers to get a view from both sides of the argument/discussion?
Sour grapes? I don’t think so. I think you may find that it’s just an honest view of another person’s experience in dealing with you during their time at the same company.
I’m flattered that you would remember who I am, and I’m pretty sure I know why you do. I didn’t stick around for long after you turned up, but I was there long enough to “know”. If you don’t agree then perhaps you should speak to some of the guys who came in after you who are still in touch with me even now.
The point of the article was actually to discuss what makes someone good at what they do. You and your blog entry were simply entry points into the discussion for me. It’s a shame it’s become more focussed on you, as I feel it detracts from the original intent.
Lastly, in future I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention the names of the involved Companies when posting on this site. Feel free to do it on your own blog, but not here. Company names do not add anything to the argument, and I believe they have the right to a bit of privacy. I’m sure they’d prefer not to be mentioned during discussions such as this.
Good luck in the future Peter.
September 15, 2006
Hey everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I have to clarify some things though that you are missing out, or simply don’t know.
I was a contractor - you know that right. It was a temporary gig and the reason I worked there (you asked) was to boost my income so that I could fly here and join my wife. Some of you may not be aware that my wife was suffering a breakdown and had to fly home to the US without me so my time there was all about the money and getting the hell out of Dodge, fast.
Now, i was hired as a developer. I was hired as one of you guys. I looked forward to that role. On day one a certain G-Man decided I should be enterprise architect. That person painted a horrible picture of the project and told me to ’stamp’ down on it, which I did - you even acknowlege that. So yeah, I was an asshole. I was told to be.
In terms of the phraseology of it all - you guys/us guys etc, despite that mandate I was assigned to one small project that was not a part of the main one you were. So , we were in effect different teams - you guys.
Now, I do know the incident you refer to with my brusqeness etc and it’s something I regret. I’ve never done that ever in my career, the person it happened with is actually on my IM list and I’m so glad to see him having a really successful career out of that environment. I was missing my family, under stupid amounts of stress with stupid goals (serious Mr. Sh**** was an asshole with no clue) and the chap in question flipped a switch that I should not have responded to, but did.
Was I an asshole? Yes. Was I arrogant? Yes. Was I overtly ramming my experience down throats? Absolutely. But, in short I did everything I was told to do.
Doesn’t necessarily excuse it. I could have done the honorable thing and walked away, but I had a goal to achieve (leaving) and achieved it well.
As for Nayur he also was put in a crappy position. He’s a coder and an awesome one. For some reason they elevated his role there and he really didn’t want that to happen. I mean he SERIOUSLY didn’t want that to happen.
C’est la vie.
Finally, on the not posting negative stuff on my blog - dude - there’s enough there for a life time already. I let most of it through but there comes a point where you have to kind of lock it down, and that’s what I did, especially when I mistakenly thought the message in question was from someone with a gripe here, not there.
Even more finally, why I commented here? Why not? The blogosphere is all about dialog - welcome to it. When Amazon were showing email addresses of reviewers I would happily email anyone with a negative comment because I wanted to learn why they felt bad and see what I could do it about it. I do take critisism on board, and that includes everything I’ve seen here as well. So, thanks!
Even more finally, as for agreeing or disagreeing with you - it really doesn’t matter dude. I took a contract, I did the contract, I took the money, did as I was told and left. Some people won’t like what I did, some people will. But as I mentioned in other responses to other comments on my own blog it’s all a question of being at ease with myself. While you guys thought I was being a heartless, arrogant prick, I was worrying about just how soon I could return to what was important - my family.
September 15, 2006
Pete,
Hats off to you for admitting that. I’m glad to find that you are the kind of person who can take the opinion of someone else and deal with it despite the fact that it might not be an agreeable one. I appreciate you also disclosing some of the information which answers (at least in part) some of the questions that I first posted in my blog entry - particulary the personal stuff, which is none of my business. I didn’t actually ask those questions in the hope of getting answers, they were designed to be thought provoking. I do appreciate the feedback though.
At the end of the day, I think we can agree that my perception of you and your behaviour based on the experience we had at the company we worked for correlates exactly with how you behaved - I’ll have to take your word for it that you were asked to be like that, as at this point in time I don’t have any reason to doubt it.
I’ll keep my comments on Mr S**** to myself
Those people who know me and know the interactions I had with this individual already know my opinion of him. I’m sure that you also know them.
I can understand that family pressures and concerns, particularly ones associated with potential detrimental effects on health, can really take their toll on an individual. I do however struggle to understand the inability to keep home issues at home and work issues at work. I feel this is part of being a professional. Of course, my point of view is from that of a person who hasn’t been through what you’ve described with your wife - so I don’t know if I’d behave the same. I’d like to think that I would be able to put personal issues aside while I’m at work as I have done up until now. I won’t actually know until I’m put in that position.
I hope that your wife has since recovered from her breakdown and that you guys are back on top of things, and hence it no longer effects your personal and work life. It’s certainly not a nice thing to go through.
So, if we can push aside time spent at B****** and your movements in the industry, perhaps we can focus on the purpose of the post? As I mentioned before, your blog post was a launch-pad for a discussion on what makes someone good in their field. I’d be interested to hear your opinion.
I’d like to end by saying that there is no animosity in what I’ve been saying. It’s merely a statement of opinion based on experience - without bitterness. I don’t hold a grudge, particularly with those people who can and will never have any bearing on the direction I go in my life (and career). I think we both know that Mr S**** fits firmly into this category
Thanks again for the response.
September 15, 2006
I’ll certainly answer that, but not today. It’s a post I want to think long and hard about and put on my own blog real soon. I will answer it though.
September 18, 2006
I had an interesting comment come through today on this topic, and far be it from me to not let it come through. I’ll not let it come through in the usual manner though, since if I allow this one then this person can post without being moderated again, so instead I’ll post on his/her behalf:
So, as you can see, it’s a well-rounded addition to the discussion. Now, just to get things straight:
Now that you’ve vented and made yourself feel better, how about you add something to the conversation? What do you think makes someone good?
September 19, 2006
Whoa! Remind me never to piss you off OJ
September 19, 2006
I only get pissed off at stupidity, so you’re perfectly safe Keef