June 3, 2010 at 17:20Project of your dreams
- Transfer
Some are lucky. You know that for sure. He has on his desk a widescreen monitor that can replace the screen in a movie theater. A computer nestled under an expensive oak table is more powerful than WOPR from the old movie War Games. And, of course, do not forget that all this is in a separate office, in which you can even lock the door with a key (of course, for exceptionally important reasons). And if this is not enough for you people because of office partitions, then remember that this dude is responsible for the coolest projects and uses the sexiest and latest technologies. He is one of those whom all other mortals dream of being dreary nights, instead of sleeping. But why is he so lucky?
The fact is that most programmers lead a pretty monotonous lifestyle. These geeks, knocking on the keyboard and tanning from the light of the monitor, are real computer wizards, but, nevertheless, they know little about the world around them. If you really want to find out why the Supergick from the previous example is so lucky, you have to do what you could not see in your worst nightmare. Need a drink with the guys from marketing. Seriously. I am not kidding. And yes, I have not drunk too much. Fair.
I see how you got the slide rule in the last row and try to figure out how all this is at least remotely related to the dream project. Especially the last passage about marketing. Although I really don’t want to explain just to neigh over your long face, I’ll tell you a secret: marketing dudes know that most techies are not able to realize that you won’t get anything if you don’t ask for anything. No, this is not another Zen saying wise in its simplicity. It is, in fact, life.
Your lucky acquaintance, who is driving you out of his cozy office, while we are arguing here to lock him up and chat with his next girlfriend, got all this not only because the wind of fate once blew in his direction. Quite the contrary. If you had watched a day, then you would have understood that he was just shouting at the subway, distributing flyers advertising his beloved. All this happened to him only because he asked about it in plain text or put into the heads of the leadership the idea that he needed it. You, on the contrary, were hunched over by an uncountable number of unpaid overtime hours, expecting that one day the leadership would miraculously notice all your merits and reward them. If you overhear Mr. Lucky's conversation with his girlfriend in a locked office, you can find out that he considers you still believing in good fairies. It never happens in life.
Are all other mortals cursed and doomed to work hard while others receive all the joys and riches? I do not think so. I don’t know about you, I hate to lose. And now the main idea that you need to remember: it is impossible to win without playing. Tired of plowing 20 hours a day, raking the code of some crazy person? Did you get tired of using technologies that were outdated even during the first moon landing? Do you miss the feelings you got from learning new languages and creating awesome programs? Then take your coffee, take a seat closer and, for God's sake, drop your line. People are watching.
The first question is not always the simplest, no matter what you think. Do you want your dream project? Then go ahead! In a clear and understandable language, write down everything that you think the rook of carefree and fun programming should consist of. Everything, put down the pen, time is up. What are you muttering over there? Only wrote two paragraphs? That's it. The first step to getting what you want is a clear understanding of what it is. So, take a pen and this time spend as many hours or days as you need to create a detailed list. Here are some questions to help you.
Of course, you can easily continue the list. But that is not all. A cool project is not just technology. Who do you want to be: a project manager, team lead or an ordinary employee knocking code? Want to design an architecture? Yes, and do not forget about toys. Computers, networks, printers, broadband access, laptops, PDAs and a bunch of all kinds of gizmos from which you drag. Hey you! There, in the back row! Yes, I appeal to you! Put your ruler down! I have a carafe on my desk, and I'm not afraid to throw it at you! Where did we leave off?
Of course, not only the foregoing is a boat of cool programming, but without a doubt, you can start with it. The main thing is that you know exactly what you want. You will be surprised when you find out how few people, and programmers, and everyone else know what they want. By the way, these are the very people who cry louder and more mournful of their bitter fate. Interesting creatures are these people, don't you find?
Now that you have a wish list, from which Santa Claus shudders, you need to understand who will fulfill them. No need to talk with your fellow programmers about a cool project you would like to work on. They can sympathize with you, but they can help little. Instead, find someone or people who can actually make decisions. A short definition of such people: they have the right to authorize the work. They can be a project manager, an average manager, a vice president, and, in general, any person who is above you in the food chain.
For the first raid on the country of creation of projects, choose a simpler goal. You are more likely to attract the attention of one and influence those with whom you regularly communicate. It’s impossible to just go and open the door of the office of the president’s office; you will be bitten by the secretary’s official guard chihuahua. And nobody needs this. However, find all the people in your environment who can appoint you to work on the project. Do not forget about other departments. Quite often, within companies, resources can be transferred from department to department. Do not think under whose flag you are. Think about the rook.
Remember this question and learn to answer it from someone else's point of view, and not just your own. Although there are people who make money by deceiving and destroying others, in the long run, the path to success lies in creating benefits for the people you work with. Refers to life only through the prism of self - it is the same as standing on board a very small boat. Such an unstable position rarely leads to anything good, and you get wet to the skin, not even having time to realize this. Besides, nobody cares what you want there. Everyone is very busy with what they want. Learn to help them in the realization of their own desires, and they will shower your way with gold. As a bonus, you will sleep peacefully, knowing that you live honestly. And this, agree, is priceless.
Now, having adjusted your perception to the recognition of someone else's profit, look around in your organization. What needs to be done to bring the company benefits? Are there any processes that obviously need to be automated? Do not forget to look towards areas where technical improvements have already been introduced. What can be improved in these software systems? Do not forget that programmers also cost money. And the speed of bringing a product to the market is always important, even if the market is limited to departments in your company. If you can increase the productivity of developers using additional tools, code generators, libraries, extensions to the development environment, etc., etc. it means that you are able to bring additional benefits to the hangout of management.
There is no business in which there is nothing to improve. The most important thing, however, is that the improvements are visible to managers, and not just you. These can be two completely different things, but the only point of view that should be taken into account is the point of view of management. If you offer anything that they consider worthwhile, you're in the game. Just talk about what can make your life easier, you lost without completing the first sentence. And this is hardly dishonest. They pay you to live better, not you. That is why you have a job.
Now that you have a list of ideas that can be beneficial (do you remember to take notes?), You need to tackle the details. Wipe off the dust on a book on economics that you last read before the exam at the institute, and remember that all companies exist "for profit." They are created for this, and in order to speak the language of managers, you must describe your proposals in this vein. Here are a few points to get you started.
Got it? All of the above allows a business to increase profitability directly or indirectly. However, you need to understand that not everyone in the company is interested in how profitable it is, even for managers. Often, leaders are really only concerned with their personal careers and power. They will agree with all the points on this list, but it does not motivate them to action. Accordingly, you must find something that will give them personal or professional benefits. Here is another list that will help you cope with this task.
You know what you want, who can give it, what needs to be done, and which company or person needs it. All that remains to be done is to make the decision maker believe that you are able to do this and let you do it. Wait a minute, I noticed that as soon as I said “sell,” some of you twitched and again reached for their rulers. Look carefully, the carafe is still on the table. And my sight is devilishly accurate. Relax. It is not so difficult as it seems.
The most important thing about selling is not trying to be a seller. Be yourself - an ordinary geek, which you are. You will behave differently, cause suspicion and resistance. Insincerity is always felt. In the end, are you trying not to steal a mobile phone? You just talk to the people you work with every day and make a couple of common suggestions. The secret to the effectiveness of this approach is that you describe their benefits, not your own. That is the difference.
The first thing to remember, without hesitation, talk about opportunities and benefits, not about technology. As soon as you talk about technology, you will find yourself in a situation where you describe the benefits for yourself. And it’s like death, that’s why I’m driving you away from your slide rule. This is for your own good.
You came not to talk about new cool technology, but to discuss ideas that will help strengthen your own professional and personal positions. Only in this way will you attract and hold their attention. In fact, try as little as possible to go into implementation details. Because they may want to argue about this. Also do not scribble. Do not tell your intentions to anyone who has not yet become your reliable ally, deeply interested in your transaction. You, simply, will create competitors for yourself if others find out and start trying to pull the blanket over themselves.
The next paragraph of our story is a prototype. In general, I am against prototyping in real development for reasons I don’t want to delve into. However, when you are trying to sell, a prototype can be very useful. Spend a little time creating a simple demo that will make it easy to demonstrate what you have planned there.
Firstly, you can see what advantages will be received. Secondly, when there is a user interface, contrary to common sense, the application is perceived as "almost finished." You can already choose something from the menu. How much more needs to be done? Never mind. It does not matter that this code will have to be thrown out. Your task is to interest you, to show that success is so close that you can almost touch it. Given that you are promoting the idea of their own success, they will happily believe it.
While they drool on a wonderful instrument that will lift them to heights that they never dreamed of, tell us how you will be happy to create it. As I understand it, you are busy in some kind of project, otherwise you would have been fired for a long time. Now you need to describe how you will go to success. Tell them that you can be removed from the current project (“You know, and that new guy is quite capable of doing the garbage that I’ve downloaded.”), Or that you can completely combine the new with your “real” work (“See how productive I used forced breaks then and then. ”). In the latter case, do not despair. The extra load turns into the main one as soon as your boss sees prospects and wants to accelerate the receipt of the long-awaited result. Also think about where you can get helpers (“By the way, Ivan, who’s engaged in implementation,
You already hooked the decision maker with something that you want to do, and explained how to do it. The main mistake that even experienced sellers make is not to complete the sale at this point. Do not think that if you explained all the advantages, they will tell you: “Cool, let’s do this and do it?”. You can not do it this way. You have to complete the transaction. The best way to the contrary is simple and known as "accepting a deal." The bottom line is that you need to continue the conversation as if he had already said yes. The easiest way to start discussing your next step, and leave them only the opportunity to assent. It really works. Sellers have been doing this for years. Why, do you think, I advised to treat the guys from marketing with a beer?
Many of you all may not be able to abstract sufficiently, so I will give a practical example from real life. My programmer friend and I worked for a large corporation, where our division developed a library for checking input data each time the system was sold to a new client to fully meet his needs. Because the logic was complex, each such iteration took 6 months.
Our team constantly had for a low development speed, deadlines, dissatisfied customers. The headache was added to him by the need to meet the requirements of variable wind speeds. In short: he was not happy. We, too. And with each project, it got more and more.
My friend noticed that, in general, this is work for the form generator. We brainstormed, figured out how to cross a raccoon and a rhinoceros, and told our manager that we were ready to make the tool in less time than the library does for one client; and when he is ready, what took six months will be done in a couple of weeks. The only word he said was: “Let's go.” We looked around, played around with the latest technology and achieved success. When we were done, the application did exactly what we promised.
By the way, remember, I said that you should not make hype ahead of time? Other programmers heard about our initiative, though after making a decision, and were saddened. They were employees (like us) and were afraid that this thing would leave them without work. (I won’t spray here about ethics.) In general, when we finished our application and took up the next contract, they got rid of it and again began to write for six months. Although, who cares? We won, fulfilled our promises, and our project manager began to consider us like gods on the old Olympus. In fact, the only reason they were able to get rid of our tool is to upgrade our manager. If all of the above does not seem to you a classic “winner-winner” deal, then you again messed around with your lineup instead of listening.
Well, the last tip. Start small. You will improve your skills gradually, and nothing will strengthen your self-confidence like won victories. Very soon you will have a reputation as a guy for whom there is no impossible. Most likely, even before you yourself understand this, you will be escorting us from your chic office to lock the door and chat with another girlfriend. Of course, everyone will think that you are just lucky.
The fact is that most programmers lead a pretty monotonous lifestyle. These geeks, knocking on the keyboard and tanning from the light of the monitor, are real computer wizards, but, nevertheless, they know little about the world around them. If you really want to find out why the Supergick from the previous example is so lucky, you have to do what you could not see in your worst nightmare. Need a drink with the guys from marketing. Seriously. I am not kidding. And yes, I have not drunk too much. Fair.
I see how you got the slide rule in the last row and try to figure out how all this is at least remotely related to the dream project. Especially the last passage about marketing. Although I really don’t want to explain just to neigh over your long face, I’ll tell you a secret: marketing dudes know that most techies are not able to realize that you won’t get anything if you don’t ask for anything. No, this is not another Zen saying wise in its simplicity. It is, in fact, life.
Your lucky acquaintance, who is driving you out of his cozy office, while we are arguing here to lock him up and chat with his next girlfriend, got all this not only because the wind of fate once blew in his direction. Quite the contrary. If you had watched a day, then you would have understood that he was just shouting at the subway, distributing flyers advertising his beloved. All this happened to him only because he asked about it in plain text or put into the heads of the leadership the idea that he needed it. You, on the contrary, were hunched over by an uncountable number of unpaid overtime hours, expecting that one day the leadership would miraculously notice all your merits and reward them. If you overhear Mr. Lucky's conversation with his girlfriend in a locked office, you can find out that he considers you still believing in good fairies. It never happens in life.
Are all other mortals cursed and doomed to work hard while others receive all the joys and riches? I do not think so. I don’t know about you, I hate to lose. And now the main idea that you need to remember: it is impossible to win without playing. Tired of plowing 20 hours a day, raking the code of some crazy person? Did you get tired of using technologies that were outdated even during the first moon landing? Do you miss the feelings you got from learning new languages and creating awesome programs? Then take your coffee, take a seat closer and, for God's sake, drop your line. People are watching.
What do you want?
The first question is not always the simplest, no matter what you think. Do you want your dream project? Then go ahead! In a clear and understandable language, write down everything that you think the rook of carefree and fun programming should consist of. Everything, put down the pen, time is up. What are you muttering over there? Only wrote two paragraphs? That's it. The first step to getting what you want is a clear understanding of what it is. So, take a pen and this time spend as many hours or days as you need to create a detailed list. Here are some questions to help you.
- What languages do you want to write in?
- What APIs?
- What about the Internet?
- What kind of functionality?
- What gadgets do we implement the interface for?
- Multimedia?
- Database?
- Speech recognition?
Of course, you can easily continue the list. But that is not all. A cool project is not just technology. Who do you want to be: a project manager, team lead or an ordinary employee knocking code? Want to design an architecture? Yes, and do not forget about toys. Computers, networks, printers, broadband access, laptops, PDAs and a bunch of all kinds of gizmos from which you drag. Hey you! There, in the back row! Yes, I appeal to you! Put your ruler down! I have a carafe on my desk, and I'm not afraid to throw it at you! Where did we leave off?
Of course, not only the foregoing is a boat of cool programming, but without a doubt, you can start with it. The main thing is that you know exactly what you want. You will be surprised when you find out how few people, and programmers, and everyone else know what they want. By the way, these are the very people who cry louder and more mournful of their bitter fate. Interesting creatures are these people, don't you find?
Who are you calling?
Now that you have a wish list, from which Santa Claus shudders, you need to understand who will fulfill them. No need to talk with your fellow programmers about a cool project you would like to work on. They can sympathize with you, but they can help little. Instead, find someone or people who can actually make decisions. A short definition of such people: they have the right to authorize the work. They can be a project manager, an average manager, a vice president, and, in general, any person who is above you in the food chain.
For the first raid on the country of creation of projects, choose a simpler goal. You are more likely to attract the attention of one and influence those with whom you regularly communicate. It’s impossible to just go and open the door of the office of the president’s office; you will be bitten by the secretary’s official guard chihuahua. And nobody needs this. However, find all the people in your environment who can appoint you to work on the project. Do not forget about other departments. Quite often, within companies, resources can be transferred from department to department. Do not think under whose flag you are. Think about the rook.
What about me?
Remember this question and learn to answer it from someone else's point of view, and not just your own. Although there are people who make money by deceiving and destroying others, in the long run, the path to success lies in creating benefits for the people you work with. Refers to life only through the prism of self - it is the same as standing on board a very small boat. Such an unstable position rarely leads to anything good, and you get wet to the skin, not even having time to realize this. Besides, nobody cares what you want there. Everyone is very busy with what they want. Learn to help them in the realization of their own desires, and they will shower your way with gold. As a bonus, you will sleep peacefully, knowing that you live honestly. And this, agree, is priceless.
Now, having adjusted your perception to the recognition of someone else's profit, look around in your organization. What needs to be done to bring the company benefits? Are there any processes that obviously need to be automated? Do not forget to look towards areas where technical improvements have already been introduced. What can be improved in these software systems? Do not forget that programmers also cost money. And the speed of bringing a product to the market is always important, even if the market is limited to departments in your company. If you can increase the productivity of developers using additional tools, code generators, libraries, extensions to the development environment, etc., etc. it means that you are able to bring additional benefits to the hangout of management.
There is no business in which there is nothing to improve. The most important thing, however, is that the improvements are visible to managers, and not just you. These can be two completely different things, but the only point of view that should be taken into account is the point of view of management. If you offer anything that they consider worthwhile, you're in the game. Just talk about what can make your life easier, you lost without completing the first sentence. And this is hardly dishonest. They pay you to live better, not you. That is why you have a job.
Now that you have a list of ideas that can be beneficial (do you remember to take notes?), You need to tackle the details. Wipe off the dust on a book on economics that you last read before the exam at the institute, and remember that all companies exist "for profit." They are created for this, and in order to speak the language of managers, you must describe your proposals in this vein. Here are a few points to get you started.
- Increase income
- Cost reduction
- Productivity Improvement
- Accelerating Market Entry
- Greater sales through additional tools
- Decrease decision time using specialized reports
- Reduce support costs
- Improving Customer Satisfaction Index
- Payroll reduction
Got it? All of the above allows a business to increase profitability directly or indirectly. However, you need to understand that not everyone in the company is interested in how profitable it is, even for managers. Often, leaders are really only concerned with their personal careers and power. They will agree with all the points on this list, but it does not motivate them to action. Accordingly, you must find something that will give them personal or professional benefits. Here is another list that will help you cope with this task.
- Controlled Budget Increase
- Raising status in the eyes of their leaders
- All pleasing to their ego
- Strengthening power (expansion of territories)
- Big salaries and bonuses
- Reduction of their personal participation in the work
- Opportunities for self-promotion
- More subordinate staff
- Corporate buns (office, equipment, entertainment)
Sell
You know what you want, who can give it, what needs to be done, and which company or person needs it. All that remains to be done is to make the decision maker believe that you are able to do this and let you do it. Wait a minute, I noticed that as soon as I said “sell,” some of you twitched and again reached for their rulers. Look carefully, the carafe is still on the table. And my sight is devilishly accurate. Relax. It is not so difficult as it seems.
The most important thing about selling is not trying to be a seller. Be yourself - an ordinary geek, which you are. You will behave differently, cause suspicion and resistance. Insincerity is always felt. In the end, are you trying not to steal a mobile phone? You just talk to the people you work with every day and make a couple of common suggestions. The secret to the effectiveness of this approach is that you describe their benefits, not your own. That is the difference.
The first thing to remember, without hesitation, talk about opportunities and benefits, not about technology. As soon as you talk about technology, you will find yourself in a situation where you describe the benefits for yourself. And it’s like death, that’s why I’m driving you away from your slide rule. This is for your own good.
You came not to talk about new cool technology, but to discuss ideas that will help strengthen your own professional and personal positions. Only in this way will you attract and hold their attention. In fact, try as little as possible to go into implementation details. Because they may want to argue about this. Also do not scribble. Do not tell your intentions to anyone who has not yet become your reliable ally, deeply interested in your transaction. You, simply, will create competitors for yourself if others find out and start trying to pull the blanket over themselves.
Get interested
The next paragraph of our story is a prototype. In general, I am against prototyping in real development for reasons I don’t want to delve into. However, when you are trying to sell, a prototype can be very useful. Spend a little time creating a simple demo that will make it easy to demonstrate what you have planned there.
Firstly, you can see what advantages will be received. Secondly, when there is a user interface, contrary to common sense, the application is perceived as "almost finished." You can already choose something from the menu. How much more needs to be done? Never mind. It does not matter that this code will have to be thrown out. Your task is to interest you, to show that success is so close that you can almost touch it. Given that you are promoting the idea of their own success, they will happily believe it.
Tell me how simple it is
While they drool on a wonderful instrument that will lift them to heights that they never dreamed of, tell us how you will be happy to create it. As I understand it, you are busy in some kind of project, otherwise you would have been fired for a long time. Now you need to describe how you will go to success. Tell them that you can be removed from the current project (“You know, and that new guy is quite capable of doing the garbage that I’ve downloaded.”), Or that you can completely combine the new with your “real” work (“See how productive I used forced breaks then and then. ”). In the latter case, do not despair. The extra load turns into the main one as soon as your boss sees prospects and wants to accelerate the receipt of the long-awaited result. Also think about where you can get helpers (“By the way, Ivan, who’s engaged in implementation,
Complete the sale!
You already hooked the decision maker with something that you want to do, and explained how to do it. The main mistake that even experienced sellers make is not to complete the sale at this point. Do not think that if you explained all the advantages, they will tell you: “Cool, let’s do this and do it?”. You can not do it this way. You have to complete the transaction. The best way to the contrary is simple and known as "accepting a deal." The bottom line is that you need to continue the conversation as if he had already said yes. The easiest way to start discussing your next step, and leave them only the opportunity to assent. It really works. Sellers have been doing this for years. Why, do you think, I advised to treat the guys from marketing with a beer?
Example A
Many of you all may not be able to abstract sufficiently, so I will give a practical example from real life. My programmer friend and I worked for a large corporation, where our division developed a library for checking input data each time the system was sold to a new client to fully meet his needs. Because the logic was complex, each such iteration took 6 months.
Our team constantly had for a low development speed, deadlines, dissatisfied customers. The headache was added to him by the need to meet the requirements of variable wind speeds. In short: he was not happy. We, too. And with each project, it got more and more.
My friend noticed that, in general, this is work for the form generator. We brainstormed, figured out how to cross a raccoon and a rhinoceros, and told our manager that we were ready to make the tool in less time than the library does for one client; and when he is ready, what took six months will be done in a couple of weeks. The only word he said was: “Let's go.” We looked around, played around with the latest technology and achieved success. When we were done, the application did exactly what we promised.
By the way, remember, I said that you should not make hype ahead of time? Other programmers heard about our initiative, though after making a decision, and were saddened. They were employees (like us) and were afraid that this thing would leave them without work. (I won’t spray here about ethics.) In general, when we finished our application and took up the next contract, they got rid of it and again began to write for six months. Although, who cares? We won, fulfilled our promises, and our project manager began to consider us like gods on the old Olympus. In fact, the only reason they were able to get rid of our tool is to upgrade our manager. If all of the above does not seem to you a classic “winner-winner” deal, then you again messed around with your lineup instead of listening.
Well, the last tip. Start small. You will improve your skills gradually, and nothing will strengthen your self-confidence like won victories. Very soon you will have a reputation as a guy for whom there is no impossible. Most likely, even before you yourself understand this, you will be escorting us from your chic office to lock the door and chat with another girlfriend. Of course, everyone will think that you are just lucky.