November 8, 2005
Developing with Passion
Passion.
It's the difference between really feeling alive and simply existing, just plodding along through life. Indeed my father, a semi-retired clinical psychologist, once wrote that cultivating a passion is one of the ingredients of happiness. For me cricket is an enduring passion but that's another story.
I consider myself fortunate to be passionate about what I do for a living: developing software and teaching people how to develop software. I know that when I'm working within an environment that fosters passionate software development I'm much more likely to deliver the best software and designs that I am capable of.
Which brings me to Kathy Sierra's recent piece about what happens when clients (and bosses) go bad. Definitely recommended reading. Kathy focusses on the consequences of becoming a slave to your client and how that can result in developers churning out software with no passion or creativity. So true. She goes on to offer a few suggestions about how to treat employees on those occasions, hopefully few and far between, when overtime is reasonably required. What Kathy has to say may sound like common sense but it certainly strikes a chord with me and I can recall a few managers who would do well to heed her words.
Drawing these threads of thought together, may I suggest that happy developers are good for a software development organisation. So, rather than being a slave to your clients, cultivate a passion for developing quality software.
Posted to Peopleware, Software Development by Keith Pitty