RallyDev.com
Ooooh! It’s Friday and time for another celebration of a one hit wonder. And though it is April Fool’s Day, this is no joke. Today I am thinking about how we have to continually hone our craft in our technology world. Sometimes, I feel as though I am in a never ending PhD program. Or, I keep moving from one apprenticeship to another. It can be overwhelming. And yet, I love my work. I love feeling growth and challenge in how we continuously improve the software industry.
I started in this technical world 30 years ago, programming JCL on punch cards. It was that or paper tape. (I am NOT making this up!) I moved on to PL/1, Fortran, C, and a couple of assembly languages along the way. I then made the dramatic move from procedural languages to object-oriented languages.
And there were other areas in which the world of technology invited my growth through challenge and reward. I slowly moved away from a very documentation-driven view of the world. (Well, I could call it “graduated from” but I don’t want to be too provocative on a “One Hit Wonder Friday!”) And there was a time when my sense of significance was deeply wrapped up in my prowess in Microsoft Project, in 5-level work breakdown structures, and in pages of perfectly aligned Gantt charts based on my skills with Finish-Start dependencies. Whoa! Just had a trip down memory lane! It’s a heart-breaking story. And it is worth telling. Because, now I am in an Agile world.
Today, I am pausing and reflecting on how I have had to continually be prepared to re-tool my thinking and my tools. It hasn’t always been easy. And, it has ALWAYS been rewarding. Moving to the world of Agile and continuously working on my grasp of lean thinking, systems thinking, complexity theory and knowledgement management has all been a challenge. The rewards, however, are priceless.
And now our one hit wonder of the day. This week I am thinking about an artist not from the music industry. His work was limited to the big (and little) screen. He was brilliant in his craft at the time of his fame. In fact, I would say he was singular, outstanding, ground-breaking. He won the hearts of millions. And yet, he fell into obsolescense to the point of later appearing in television shows and movies more as a perfect caricature of himself. Why? He didn’t keep up with technology. He remained in a world in which his craft lost its value. As good as he was, he was left behind. He is a poignant reminder that we must always invite growth and change even when we may feel lost or that it is all just too much. Our artist for today gave selflessly to others when all odds were against them.
Yes, today we are celebrating “Robbie the Robot” from the the 1956 movie “Forbidden Planet”. The spelling of his name (Robby/Robbie) seems to be somewhat of a mystery just as Robbie’s dedication to his performance was mystical. Though he appeared in a variety of movies and TV shows after “Forbidden Plant” (including “Lost in Space” no less), these were only as brief cameos, as sad reminders of glory days long past.
I met Robbie several weeks ago in the Intel Museum in Hillsboro, Oregon. I was at the Intel Agile Conference there when Scott Hanselman of Microsoft asked to interview me for channel9.msdn.com. Where better to hold the interview than in the museum just across the way from the conference? And there he was, Robbie the Robot. Wow. Me meeting Robbie the Robot. Robbie still holds up his head with pride despite being relegated to museum status. He still holds out his large rounded, clumsy digits ever ready to offer assistance despite his inability to do so. I salute Robbie for all he has given us.
Jean Tabaka is a crash skier, college hoops shredologist, author and Agile Fellow at Rally Software Development. You can follow Jean on Twitter at @jeantabaka
