https://www.joshuawootonn.com/_next/static/chunks/pages/avoiding-conformity-and-doing-art-f2f1126a40bfe18c.js

1(self.webpackChunk_N_E=self.webpackChunk_N_E||[]).push([[6701],{5870:function(e,t,n){(window.__NEXT_P=window.__NEXT_P||[]).push(["/avoiding-conformity-and-doing-art",function(){return n(1341)}])},1341:function(e,t,n){"use strict";n.r(t),n.d(t,{meta:function(){return a},toc:function(){return r}});var i=n(1527),o=n(6736),s=n(1902);let r=[{depth:2,value:"Doing what you are told"},{depth:2,value:"Hot takes \uD83D\uDD25"},{depth:2,value:"How the process can get in the way"},{depth:2,value:"Don't just conform - do art"},{depth:2,value:"Have some empathy"}],a={title:"Avoiding conformity and doing art",description:"how an extensive software process can impede the real work",publishedOn:"2021-08-24T15:15:00-0400",template:"Blog"},MDXLayout=e=>{let{children:t}=e;return(0,i.jsx)(s.l,{meta:a,toc:r,children:t})};function _createMdxContent(e){let t=Object.assign({p:"p",em:"em",h2:"h2",ul:"ul",li:"li",strong:"strong"},(0,o.ah)(),e.components),{Quote:n}=t;return n||function(e,t){throw Error("Expected "+(t?"component":"object")+" `"+e+"` to be defined: you likely forgot to import, pass, or provide it.")}("Quote",!0),(0,i.jsxs)(i.Fragment,{children:[(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber describes the perfect business model as"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(n,{children:(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"Operated by People with the Lowest Possible Level of Skill. Yes, I said\nlowest possible level of skill. Because if your model depends on highly\nskilled people, it's going to be impossible to replicate. Such people are at\na premium in the marketplace. They're also expensive, thus raising the price\nyou will have to charge for your products."})}),"\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.p,{children:["It's ",(0,i.jsx)(t.em,{children:"perfect"})," because lowest possible skill level leads to the highest replaceability.\nHigh replaceability moves all control into the business. If you don't conform we will just replace you."]}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"To some extent this is expected. I am not investing and taking on risk.\nWhy should I expect to do anything but to implement what I am told? Why is it important that I do much more than that?"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.h2,{children:"Doing what you are told"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"A little background on my job: We use processes like scrum and tools like Jira to increase visibility.\nTickets are created by product with engineering and design input, and this system usually works well.\nIt's a nice way of iterating the product in a controlled manner."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"In a recent rebranding however this system has failed.\nUnder the pressure of having to redesign all our systems at once, design was swamped, and we were given a half-baked mock.\nThis is frustrating because ... I am not the designer ... I am just a dev.\nThe very system that is there to eliminate all of my unknowns, so I can just program, stunts my creativity in situations like this.\nI am not supposed to think creatively I am just supposed to change the app to match the mock."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"We are three weeks in, and I just realized that I can take liberty fill in where the mock lacks. The incomplete nature was intentional.\nWhy was that such a hard conclusion for me to come to?\nBecause when you are trained to obey it's hard to think for yourself. It's not your job."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.h2,{children:"Hot takes \uD83D\uDD25"}),"\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.ul,{children:["\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.li,{children:'Systems like scrum are "sold" to us with promises of increased productivity, but they trade our humanity in for visibility.'}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.li,{children:"We should be optimizing for effectiveness not efficiency, but our systems are set up so that efficiency is rewarded."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.li,{children:"If all you do is move tickets across a jira board, you are a factory worker."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.li,{children:"There is still some art left to be done in software engineering, and that is where the premium in our market will be found."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.li,{children:"People that shed the notion that they are just the implementer will be the same people that create the best products."}),"\n"]}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.h2,{children:"How the process can get in the way"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"Great software lives at the intersection of humanity and innovation.\nWhen I have to obey all the time I lose the humanity I have and just follow."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"The systems we stand up to track points, increase visibility, or spread the work around are the same systems that create a 1000 extra little questions.\nThis indirection adds to the hard task of thinking creatively and makes the whole effort exh

1austing."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"In this world coasting is easy and making a difference is hard."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.h2,{children:"Don't just conform - do art"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:"The path forward for me is to fill in where the design is lacking.\nTo bring my whole self to the product. To not wait for approval or someone to ask me to do so."}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:'And for the future, even though it\'s "not prioritized right now" and "not apart of our sprint goals" I will find the root of the problem instead of just shuffling tickets on Jira.'}),"\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.ul,{children:["\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.li,{children:[(0,i.jsx)(t.strong,{children:"I will"})," practice my craft and get better at what I do instead of waiting for a training to be approved"]}),"\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.li,{children:[(0,i.jsx)(t.strong,{children:"I will"})," be proud of my humanity and what I bring to the table"]}),"\n",(0,i.jsxs)(t.li,{children:[(0,i.jsx)(t.strong,{children:"I will"})," work undistracted instead of searching for certainty in meetings and notifications"]}),"\n"]}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.h2,{children:"Have some empathy"}),"\n",(0,i.jsx)(t.p,{children:'Have empathy for the people behind the process. In my own situation, I doubt that the way our systems have made me feel was intentional.\nThere are some great people out there that have just accepted "this is the way the world works." They aren\'t the enemy.'})]})}t.default=function(){let e=arguments.length>0&&void 0!==arguments[0]?arguments[0]:{};return(0,i.jsx)(MDXLayout,Object.assign({},e,{children:(0,i.jsx)(_createMdxContent,e)}))}}},function(e){e.O(0,[3872,2464,5320,1452,1177,895,1902,9774,2888,179],function(){return e(e.s=5870)}),_N_E=e.O()}]);