A while back, I was reading a web page about how to report bugs in a useful manner and I was thinking, this is a good post, but I already know this. I realize that after 20 years in the software business, I am still eager to learn new things. That’s the gift and the curse of a career in software development, there’s always something new and spiffy to learn, but you have to keep at it or get swept downstream.
Continual improvement is a key to success. As I told my kids when they were younger (they’re old and wise teenagers now), even Tiger Woods has a swing coach.
My parents met while working as reporters for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper after WWII. They were sometimes sent to cover a human interest type story which was not what you would call “breaking news.” The subject would sometime observe, “You all put a story in the paper a few years ago about this.” My mom said she would invariably reply “New folks moving to town all the time, chief.”
This brings me to my second point: passing on good information. If I know something well, and can recognize the good information when I see it, then good for me. Framing it for others to be able to make use of that hardwon wisdom is a whole different thing.
I’m starting a new category on this blog to highlight, reiterate, or refine information which may be out there, but could stand a burnishing or a revisit. After all, new folks are joining the software industry all the time…
Martin O. Waldron
Program Manager, SW Development
ImageSource, Inc.
