Walk the walk : Delivering is more important than talking about delivering!

 

This post could be about so many things, but I’m going to try and keep it technology related.

I like to talk and clearly after 19+ years of doing the website and more than a decade of presenting it’s clear I’m not afraid of making my opinion known. I like to think it’s an educated opinion, based on experience and the ability to actually deliver on it, or be part of a group that delivers.

What I find increasingly difficult is dealing with people who can talk the talk, but can’t walk the walk. It’s really easy in our industry to say the right things and be seen as someone that is making a difference, when actually it’s all just hot air. All that really matters to me is that you can deliver. It’s nice if I like the people I work with, because it makes the workplace more pleasant, but that’s a bonus. I don’t have to like you to work with you. I just want you to deliver on what you promise.

The internet is both the greatest and the worst thing rolled into one. Everyone is a self-proclaimed expert about things before they’ve even finished reading the book. Everyone presents their “hello world” app as proof they’ve mastered the tech. Everyone is a certified rocket surgeon, but has never seen a rocket.

So what do you do when you encounter people like this? You ask questions! Most of these types break down under questioning. Drill into the subject and ask for examples of projects etc. If they know their stuff they should be able to answer, and will probably get a kick out of telling you about it. If not, just their manner will often give the game away, even if you know nothing about the subject yourself. As the saying goes, “You don’t need to know how to swim to recognise when someone is drowning!” It’s usually pretty easy to spot when someone is full of 💩. I know who you are!

Cheers

Tim…

PS. Don’t even get me started on idiots who can neither talk the talk, or walk the walk, but still seem to get promoted to their level of incompetence.

PPS. I work with several. Can you tell I’m pissed off?

Author: Tim...

DBA, Developer, Author, Trainer.