Following Hakuna Matata or always striving for perfection are two very different ways of living your life. In the short term Hakuna Matata (which means “No Worries”) looks tempting, but there’s also happiness to be found in the strive for perfection through a continuous improvement mindset.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Earlier this year I went on a skiing vacation for a week. Looking at the people in the slopes, there were many different styles of skiing. Some were good, some were bad. Some looked concentrated, some looked happy. But I think that everyone enjoyed being there. During the week I thought about different mindsets for skiing (mindsets that are also applicable to programming, don’t worry – this post is about programming and not only skiing).
I think that by just watching the people skiing, they can be grouped into four categories that reveal their mindset. Are they living by Hakuna Matata or are they continuous improvers that always want to learn? Those different mindsets are important when you form a software development team.
Employers ask for elite performers, but they should be careful – they could get what they ask for… If they find an elite performer, do they have the elite organization required to match the new hire?
I recently read a great post by Kelly Sommers: Challenge Addiction. I’ve been following Kelly on twitter for some time and I do read her blog posts. To me it is clear that she really is a challenge addict, but not only that: She’s probably one of the smartest programmers on this planet. She should be a dream for any team to hire. Unfortunately I think many teams would quickly find it a nightmare to have her on the team. That’s not because of Kelly – but because of the team.
I’d better make it clear that I’ve never met Kelly and definitely not worked with her. I can’t even say that I know her online, more than what I get from following her on Twitter. Nevertheless her post is what inspired me to write this one. This post is not specifically about her, but rather about what it means to bring a challenge addict on the team.
