The best work advice I ever got was “always build a rocket ship.” It came from my boss at my first job as a junior developer. He said it often.
In the mid-1990s I was in my second year of studying computer science in college. A friend and I were tasked with creating a computer system from scratch: analysis, design, programming, and documentation. We set out to make a library management system, and spent many hours each day of the semester working on it. Two days before our presentation, we had built the search window for books. It looked amazing and worked beautifully; we were proud of it. But it was only a small part of what we had hoped to create.
I’d love to say we stocked the fridge with Mountain Dew, turned up the Smashing Pumpkins, and programmed our behinds off for 48 hours to finish the full system on time. But that didn’t happen.
The day after the presentation, I showed our college project to my boss and started to explain why much of it was left unfinished. He said, “You know you’re getting an A, right?” It took me a moment to realize he was serious.
“Everyone else delivered a bicycle,” he said. “You built a rocket ship! It didn’t take off, but it’s still a rocket ship.” Days later my grade posted and it was indeed an A.
Somehow my boss saw something I didn’t. He later explained that even though it was not finished, the quality of the work was evident.
In my session, “The 10-Hour Project”, at the FileMaker Developer Conference 2016, I talked about delivering quality, valuable solutions in a short amount of time. I also stressed that fast delivery should never mean low quality.
Since the days of that project, I have learned a lot about project management and how to deliver on time. But the experience taught me that if I aim to build something great and that I’m proud of, others will appreciate it, too. I’ve returned to that thought over the years in my development work, and in my personal life.
To view my full session from this year’s DevCon see below or click here to view all our speakers:
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