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This is completely true. At a certain stage in your career as a "developer" you realise that your time is better spent sketching out solutions for others to fo

This is completely true. At a certain stage in your career as a "developer" you realise that your time is better spent sketching out solutions for others to follow than it is in seeing through all the work yourself. Some people naturally gravitate towards seeing the whole solution (at the cost of being impatient about the details) and some people gravitate towards diligent completion of defined goals. Projects tend to need both kinds of people.

tomkarlo 16y ago
Disagree, somewhat. Craftsmanship requires both broad vision and attention to detail during execution. It's challenging, but there's no reason a someone can't do both, even if they prefer one over the other. There are lots of great "one man band" developers out there who clearly have to wear both hats. To me, this smells like folks wanting to shirk their responsibility for the part of the job they don't like.
- rapind 16y ago
  I'm with you. The first phase is really fast-paced uber-productive (as you assemble all the bits from past experiences), and the second phase really slows down as you deal with the nitty gritty of implementation and attention to detail. Just doing the first phase is the equivalent of being an ideas guy. I.e. useless without the implementation.
- usedtolurk 16y ago
  I agree it's important to practise a bit of both for personal development. But why would you continually fight against the grain if you could be playing to your natural strengths and delivering more value?
  - tomkarlo 16y ago
    Because every kind of work has components that you find pleasant and ones you don't like as much. It's not realistic to just say "I'll try to avoid the part I don't like", especially when there's usually some parts that _nobody_ likes.
    - MercuryCreative 16y ago
      Yes, that's very true. I believe the point here though is to play to your strengths for the good of the project. If someone else is better at the detail work then let them do it. The project as a whole will be better produced and that's your end goal. We're not here to build character by completing unwelcome tasks, we're here to build products.

tomkarlo 16y ago

Disagree, somewhat. Craftsmanship requires both broad vision and attention to detail during execution. It's challenging, but there's no reason a someone can't do both, even if they prefer one over the other. There are lots of great "one man band" developers out there who clearly have to wear both hats. To me, this smells like folks wanting to shirk their responsibility for the part of the job they don't like.

rapind 16y ago
I'm with you. The first phase is really fast-paced uber-productive (as you assemble all the bits from past experiences), and the second phase really slows down as you deal with the nitty gritty of implementation and attention to detail. Just doing the first phase is the equivalent of being an ideas guy. I.e. useless without the implementation.
usedtolurk 16y ago
I agree it's important to practise a bit of both for personal development. But why would you continually fight against the grain if you could be playing to your natural strengths and delivering more value?
- tomkarlo 16y ago
  Because every kind of work has components that you find pleasant and ones you don't like as much. It's not realistic to just say "I'll try to avoid the part I don't like", especially when there's usually some parts that _nobody_ likes.
  - MercuryCreative 16y ago
    Yes, that's very true. I believe the point here though is to play to your strengths for the good of the project. If someone else is better at the detail work then let them do it. The project as a whole will be better produced and that's your end goal. We're not here to build character by completing unwelcome tasks, we're here to build products.