This weekend we started to build a fence around our piece of land in Salicea, a village close to Cluj. We planted some trees a few weeks ago, but since our land seems to be on the main route of the sheep herds of the area, they started eating our trees, so we decided it was about time to clearly mark our property and hope it will keep “invaders” out of it. Although I’m an engineer, my construction knowledge is limited and is more or less based on intuition. So, we planned (my wife and me), we calculated, we argued, we purchased materials and we let people know what we were to do. Help did come our way, in the persons of my sister and two of our best friends. The end result, as you can see, is that we built a fence around roughly 50% of the land, which is a great achievement for beginners like us.

Well, if you read this so far, you’re either a friend of the “family” or you you’re a friend Developer and are curious what’s the link with software.

I realized it’s all very simple. If it’s not simple, it’s not right, it’s not going to work.

Let me tell you why. First of all, we started with a great design. We planned to make wholes, then put the pylons, then use a hammer to get them to spear their way into the earth until the proper depth… Then, our friend came by and started hammering the pylons directly through the grass… no wholes, no fuss. This was an enlightening moment. I realized over engineering is a kill and we should always try the simplest possible thing before going for more complex tools or technologies. If it’s simple and it does the job, why make your life harder?

The second thing I realized yesterday was that teamwork is the key. I learned to keep my ears & eyes opened all the time and listen to any idea, no matter where or from whom it came from. In software terms, and junior or senior can have great contributions to any software endeavour. Chances are there, you just have to make your voice heard (and have something to say).

Third, but not least, help always comes, because people are essentially good and want to help each other out through their projects. So, if you say you have unmotivated developers in your team, look first at yourself and ask yourself what you could change before putting it on the shoulders of someone else. I often find myself trying to motivate people to outperform themselves, to challenge boundaries, to think and do more than they believe is possible. Yesterday I realized that this is a normal desire of any human being, and if we provide the right space, people start expanding in it.