“Great software, likewise, requires a fanatical devotion to beauty. If you look inside good software, you find that parts no one is ever supposed to see are beautiful too.” – Paul Graham, Hackers and Painters

I am often brought back to this essay by Paul Graham. He often grounds us in our pursuit of perfect software by putting in perspective the nature of our work. We may not be as artistic as our tradesmen counterparts, but if we strive for a more balanced reform between technical work and artistry, we can deliver high quality and more original work, leading to innovation and greater aspirations.

Creativity is key in software development as much as it is in any other profession.

Though these celebrities are not mainstays of tabloid newspapers, they are inspired purveyors of hope and vision. Listening to these talks have eased my transition from startups to big name corporation and have given me the motivation I need to get off the couch and start building on these ideas.

Prior to leaving my last company, I had spent hours weeding through Monster.ca, Workopolis, and various other avenues for employment seekers. Through weeks of reviewing job postings, looking at companies and hoping to match them to my own ideals, I found there were very few that stood out as fresh or very agile at all. I was looking for a company that believed in what they did, not to become rich, but to be able to sustain themselves so that they could continue to do what they loved, indefinitely. To me, that is the ultimate success. Now, where would I find something like this?

It use to be that you could go onto craigslist.org and see very unique job postings. Since only the “cool” people used craigslist, it was evident that only “cool” companies would post job ads there. No longer is the case, as word has spread and the enemy is onto us. Now, everyone is trying to be cool. It seems, nowadays, everyone wants to be the cool, hip, company. Unfortunately, in reality, these types of companies are very rare — and that is exactly what makes them cool.

Some of the postings on craigslist are actually written in a very affected language, hoping to entice fresh minds with their somewhat obvious marketing ploy. Imagine your dad, wishing to fit in with your generation, trying to make jokes about Kanye West and Britney Spears when your friends are over hanging out. His attempts to fit in, readily fall out as awkward, sad and ultimately, pretty lame.

It seems this kind of marketing is becoming more prevalent, with the onslaught of Koodoo ads. Everywhere I go, there are pictures of leotards and cellphones. These ads hope to win you over with its slightly obvious attempts to connect with your hipster/scenester/trendster sensibilities. How does this kind of advertising do anything but annoy people? Similarly, in the delicate art of recruiting, these gimmicks not only fail to attract the right talent, but drive them away or worse, attract the wrong type of talent.

It is entirely possible that I have myself become out of touch with what the kids think is cool these days. Perhaps I am the Dad (who is not a dad) without a sense of humour. Could it simply be a matter of my own conceit or rather a deplorable closure of ingenuity and authenticity?

I have reached a point in my career where I am slightly behind in experience, yet slightly ahead in ambition. While working at my last company, I’ve condensed in 2 years more experience and exposure to technology and practices than most people would in 5 years at a large corporate company. In fact, during interviews, I’ve often been asked, how is it possible that I was able to work on all these different technologies, as though it were slightly incredulous for this to be true.

Most other companies, the opportunity to experiment or adjust if something is not working, is harder and more costly. When requirements change, as they often do, large companies cannot adapt quick enough because of all the processes that were put in place to protect the company against the whole trial-and-error affliction which most startups are generally known for.

In the software industry, change is often the only constant, but change in large companies is often difficult and slow.

These companies have adopted as a matter of practice certain methodologies from 30 years ago that at the time seemed fine and worked for many projects. Those software processes that large corporations adhere to, cannot handle today’s fast-paced environment, yet many of them are trapped because they’ve grown so big that they can’t risk changing to a whole new process. As the common phrase goes, “Better the devil we know, then the devil we don’t.”

Unfortunately, the software practice is still immature, and what was agreed as the only way to develop software in 1980, has now many other, and in many ways, better, options. How do we ween corporations off the old processes that are costing money? And how do we get them to adopt a more agile approach? It must start of small, and with a project whose success or failure is equally less important. It must grow organically as a movement from within the groups. This will then lead to bridging the gap between management and product development.

There is a disconnect between those who understand how to drive a business, and those that understand how to get the most from technology. Then there is also the disconnect between those who are managers, and those who are developing the product. I believe those that manage software developers should be as or more passionate about software than the developers themselves. There is nothing more disheartening than being lead by someone who cannot connect with you at the most basic level. Leaders who do not lead from within the group itself, risk being seen as an outsider or worse, as the enemy.

In some instances, I have noticed that developers are often viewed upon as factory workers; resources who are tasked and are accountable for completing those tasks. This type of thinking discounts the ability of software developers to provide any more value than what they’ve been tasked with.

I subscribe to the more unpopular belief that software developers are capable of being more creative than most other professions. If we were to learn anything from Google’s experiments, it is to say that a company lead by technologists (Brin and Page) in equal cooperation with a strong business mind (Schmidt) will undoubtedly yield ground-breaking and innovative products with high utility and soaring profits. Google has become unparalleled in brain-power and proven that business growth can go hand-in-hand with technology growth. If we could only spend some time investing in change, and preparing ourselves for change, perhaps we’d understand better, how to be as successful.