2 resolutions for 2007: visit a cluster of innovation every year & brush up my programming skills
I eventually came up, though a bit late, with a brand new set of 10 resolutions for myself in 2007. I have chosen to display 2 of these resolutions, 2 resolutions that aren’t really private and that I believe should become best practices, at least for people already or entering in the software industry.
1) First resolution: I will thorougly visit at least one cluster of technological innovation every single year, to keep track of what’s happening, spot opportunities, and get a better understanding of the global product and talent market
By visiting, I mean sightseeing of course, but also make sure I understand the innovation pipeline in the area, know about all hot start ups upon leaving, meet entrepreneurs there, visit a university or a research center, etc.
By cluster of innovation, I mean a buzzing place where entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and R&D brain power is available. Amongst these you may find:
- in the US: Mecca (the Silicon Valley of course), Massachussets Route 128, Austin TX, Seattle – Vancouver
- in the EU: Paris (I’m currently writing this very post from the Plateau de Saclay where a lot of things are happening), Helsinki, Sophia Antipolis, Lyon, Switzerland, Estonia, Southern London, Berlin, etc. There are actually many, many places in Europe. These places just turn out not to be as concentrated and focused on innovation as the US clusters so it won’t be as interesting and easy probably.
- in the Middle East: Israel (I usually go there at least once a year so it should be okay), Dubaï (? I’m not sure anything is happening in software; I know Jordan isn’t bad in telcos and actually went there already: true their network’s good but couldn’t figure out if there were any clusters)
- Asia & Oceania: Singapore, Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghaï, Bangalore, Madras – Chennai, Bombay, Melbourne, Sidney
And the list is far from exhaustive. Of course, outside the few places in Europe that may present an interest, the most pregnant places are all those in the US, Bangalore, and Israel. As far as this very year (2007) is concerned, I feel I need to breathe the air of the Silicon Valley. I’ll save some money and try to make it to the Valley in either November or December 2007. I’ll keep you updated anyways. If you live there or just happen to be there for a while, give me a buzz via e-mail, MSN messenger or Skype.
To wind up, my first resolution is to visit at least one cluster of innovation every single year. Of course, I’m opened to all travelling recommendations so feel free to let me know if there’s a hot place I seem not to know about yet.
2) Second resolution: although I won’t be a core business guy in the business of software (software developers are) but rather a management – business development – sales – marketing sort of profile, I’ll make sure I keep getting better in programming despite a busy schedule (meaning basically hack code at night and in the week ends, and read Bruce Eckel’s books during vacations)
Indeed, I’ll be entering the software industry upon graduation, and in the business of software, those who lead the cattle are the software developers. Open a restaurant, and the person with most clout will be the chef. Take a pharmaceutical company, the most powerful department is likely to be chemistry R&D. Look at any soccer team: those who make most money are the players, not the coach, definitely not the referree. So start a software start up, and the best treated guys on the floor will be the software developers. This is logical: core business guys are always kings, a rule of thumb even more true in brain-intensive businesses like technology.
As a non core business guy (I’ll be probably move between business development, marketing, sales, general management functions), one of my main challenges will be to be to always make sure I at least understand a little bit of what I’m talking about. Many, too many sales or marketing people have no clue of what a software really is. Since I’ll be interacting with former or current software developers a lot, I believe a great deal of my credibility will come from my ability to at least get a grasp of what I’m being told, and ask the right questions.
That’s why I believe I should stick to programming. I’m still doing very simple stuff, in other words a beginner. But one of my resolutions is to keep developing this crucial skill as I’m definitely not on the techie scheme. By the same token, I’ll try to take advantage of the situation to bridge the gap between software developers and business developers, explaining the former why they need the latter (as far as the reciprocal assertion is concerned, I guess it’s pretty clear for all parties).
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Love your N°2 resolution, as you said in the software industry the core competency is software developement. Obvious, isn’t it? Well, not in France. Many people disregard software development, they do it one or two year when they begin, it’s a kind of bizutage. And they immediatly want to move on to more noble task such as management and they don’t want to do or hear anymore about development, it’s not their problem anymore. Of course the result is that they make terrible manager in software industry.
Good to see that things are changing.
As you love to read you might want to check out this
http://blogpro.toutantic.net/2006/02/17/les-livres-que-tout-developeur-java-devrait-avoir-lu/
and this:
http://blogpro.toutantic.net/2004/10/08/books-to-read/
Love your N°2 resolution, as you said in the software industry the core competency is software developement. Obvious, isn’t it? Well, not in France. Many people disregard software development, they do it one or two year when they begin, it’s a kind of bizutage. And they immediatly want to move on to more noble task such as management and they don’t want to do or hear anymore about development, it’s not their problem anymore. Of course the result is that they make terrible manager in software industry.
Good to see that things are changing.
Jeremy,
I believe your second resolution is very good. When I did my last internship (with a company that designs and develops websites for big multinationals) the first thing that shocked me was the sort of glass ceiling (or glass wall…) that existed between developers and the rest. The first looked down at the others; and the others thought that the first were neirds who lacked of business sense.
So, yes: anything that can you get closer from the core competencies is good. But I fear it won’t be an easy task…
Jd.
Hey Aurélien,
Thanks for your links. True I should read (and apply!!) all these books. I actually have a time issue here. And I have the feeling that the best way to get better in software development is to hack code, rather than reading books. Anyways, great list.
One last thing: as I’ll be working at Microsoft, I’ll probably move on from Java to C# as soon as I believe I have understood all concepts of object oriented programming and made run a few apps. Couldn’t you draft a list of the best .Net books as well?
Many thanks in advance.
Hey Jedi,
Welcome back!
Thanks for sharing this experience with us. And becoming good in software development is certainly not, as you pointed out, piece of cake. That’s why it’s a resolution by the way.
Very good resolutions! One keeping track of the macro-environment in which you will work, and the other updating you on the micro-challenges.
But what’s with the (shocking!) picture? I hope that’s not part of one of your private resolutions.
Which picture? The map on the top?
I just couldn’t find a better picture for a computer nerd…
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