Every time I mentor a software engineer going through confusion in their career and I hear them say that they want to advance but they don’t want to stop writing code, I break it down for them this way.
You Want to Build, Not Only Write Code
There are three parts to any process that starts with nothing and ends in something.
Create — Build — Deliver
Notice I didn’t call it a Creative process because that is one of the parts and non-creative processes can involve these segments too.
Notice I didn’t call it a Build process because Build can mean Implement; Cook; Craft; Rehearse; or Plant. Those are among many others flavours of Build.
And notice I did not say Deliver alone because there are a myriad of ways you can deliver something from conceptual to actually giving something tangible to a person.
Create
The Create part is is when you have nothing but an idea or no idea at all and you take the essence or requirements of what is needed and form a plan.
When you say things like:
- I want to be involved in deciding what we are building;
- I want to understand why we are doing this;
- I like customising what I am about to make;
- I can’t just follow rules; or
- Just tell me why!
You are enlivened by the Create part.
You don’t have to like only one part but knowing this is important so you can look at things differently.
You can start to look at other parts of your job or life that satisfy this Create part.
As a software engineer, I love designing software at the high and low levels of the process.
As a writer, I love to outline an idea before it becomes a story and then map out the journey to get to writing it.
As someone who loves to cook, I like to design the meal from a simple taste to a flavour journey.
This will be my meal this Wednesday:
This is the Create.
Build
This is the part that doers [a person who is admired because of their courage and toughness] understand.
As an engineer, it is writing code starting with the direction and meaning of the Create and adding my own understanding of it.
This not following instructions. It is the essence of an idea as seen through the master craftsman’s lens.
As a cook, it isn’t just measuring the ingredients and following the insturctions but interpreting what is being asked and altering the recipe for the situation.
It is ignoring the recipe when it makes sense to do so; or demanding clarification when nothing makes sense.
This is when you say things like:
- I don’t want to stop writing code;
- I never follow the recipe exactly;
- There are many ways to do this;
- I know I am supposed to help others learn this but I want to do it too; or
- Don’t tell me how to do my job.
If you ever feel being good at your job means giving up being good at your job to manage people or do something else then this is you.
This is when I advise mentees to find other ways to Build.
In software this can involve writing code, building teams, building processes that improve or streamlining build, building teams that work in ways that scale their contributions or creating templates that transfer your knowledge to less experienced people in a structured way.
There are many ways to be a builder.
I only learnt this when I took my first go at being a people manager of software engineers decades in to my career and realised I knew how to build happy high performing teams.
I knew not because I had been a manager. I knew because I had always been a builder.
This is Build.
Delivery
There is a special kind of Type A personality who becomes a delivery lead in the corporate tech world.
They are robust. They are structured. They are slightly sociopathic.
I can say that. I worked as a delivery lead (TPM) at Amazon for a few years. Amazon is where you go to learn to deliver when first you have one hand tied behind your back and then another. After that, they hog-tie your legs. Then they blindfold you and finally, they call you mean names and don’t pick you on their dodgeball team.
Then you are asked to deliver under the kind of pressure and deadlines that would make the average person fall into a chemically unstable state of no-way-I-can-do-this!!!
Delivery in software means not just starting but owning the finishing part. There are few more thankless roles in technology. When you succeed, the team did it. When you fail, you better be ready to explain why you fell short.
What people don’t understand is that delivery people thrive and enjoy being the bravest person in the room and taking responsibility all the way through a job until it is done and done well.
Outside of software, these finishers are chefs, published authors, members of parliament, warrant officers, pilots, teachers and surgeons. This is a stupid list because there are so many people who deliver. Now I want to name nurses, yogis and thespians. Soooo many more.
Delivery is a skill. It is also a vocation.
You know it is vocation when it is thankless and underpaid.
This is Delivery.
Which are you?
The point of this is that you may have decided that Build equals writing code and the only way you will get satisfaction in your career is to do only that.
Stop thinking that way.
Explore other things that fall into the category you love.
What else makes you happy? What makes you whole? What makes you smile?
I bet you, it isn’t just code.
There are so many people in the world who have the same driver you do but in other businesses or roles.
Don’t limit yourself.
Damana Madden 