I just got yelled at in a Comment by Brad on a recent post. In my answer I pointed him to an older post on GSD, because I am serious about the mental habits and growth of my team in general. In support of GSD, a removal of any "language tunnel vision" is something of a necessity.
When we're recruiting, we look for a willingness to try new things more than what people actually know. We're doing that now, so I've been thinking about this a lot.
The GSD links back to another old post, in which I state, equally seriously, that consistent and disciplined use of a developer tool or tools is no guarantee of productivity.
But what is? Developers have to have logical minds, sure. What else, as personal characteristics?
-
an ability to work independently, and think for yourself, balanced by
-
the energy to research when you can't find the answer alone
-
a committment to excellence in the result
-
an interest in the implications of a requirement, not just a superficial resolution
-
implicit trust that being taught to fish, rather than giving dinner, is a valuable gift, and shows that the giver trusts you
… what else? What's on your list?
hear , hear .
good on you .
In case you are a real person with a real question…
1. The images are genuine except I add the kite.
2. I truncate images from the IDE when I’m doing a walkthrough.