“To keep on striving means one mature but one does not age”.
One of the men who had a profound impact in my journey through life is Peter Drucker. He is considered to be one of the greatest management thinkers of all time.
In his classic, Management, Peter Drucker asks the question.
“How can the individual, especially the individual who is putting knowledge to work, become effective, and how can such a person remain effective over long periods of years, over periods of change, over years of work, and over years of living?”
In answering this, he goes on to share seven personal experiences that teaches one on being effective as he ages.
In this article, I attempt to address these experiences as applicable to my life’s journey and profession as a Front-End Developer.
Experience One: Goal And Vision Taught By Verdi
“All my life as a musician, I have striven for perfection. It has always eluded me. I surely had an obligation to make one more try.” — Giuseppe Verdi
As a software developer, one of the key factors that will determine how exceptional you will be is the goal and vision that you set for yourself.
I made a switch into focusing on Front-End Development and set a goal to be “perfect” in javaScript ( yes, you read that right) even though I know that perfection will always elude me.
The commitment to this goal and vision has put me on a path of learning and understanding javaScript beyond the surface.
If you want to be exceptional at what you do, then set a goal and vision of perfection like the great Giuseppe Verdi and push yourself beyond the limit as you strive towards perfection.
Interestingly, I find this lesson to be applicable to every sphere of human life.
Experience Two: The Gods Can See Them Taught By Phidias
Strive for perfection even if only the gods can see it.-Peter Drucker
If perfection is so elusive, what then can be considered the right definition of “perfection”?
The definition of perfection will draw on a debate on what humans consider perfect.
In trying to define perfection, let’s take a clue from the great ancient Greek sculptor, Phidias who said “the gods can see them” while responding to the refusal by the accountant general to paying his wages for building the sculptor in 440 BC that to this day stand on the roofs of Parthenon in Athens.
As I go about my work, I am conscious that the gods will see my work and if that is the case, then my work must be done with the utmost respect and integrity.
My family
Experience Three: Continuous Learning
A software developer has to know about many technologies as possible to be considered “best fit”. This is no mean achievement, it requires the developer to commit to a lifetime of continuous learning.
I am yet to see an exceptional developer who isn’t committed to continuous learning and you know what? It has to be on a daily basis.
To remain a competent software developer, one has to make a commitment to a lifetime of learning. Ours is a profession that is continually inundated with new technologies, libraries and frameworks.
Committing to continuous learning will play a major role in your goal towards perfection.
You can start by committing to a technology to and follow the #100DaysOfCode movement.
Experience Four: Reviewing
At the end of the day (or week or month or year),
“Take stuck of the things you have done well for that day, the things you had tried to do well. Next the things you had not tried hard enough to do well and lastly the things for which you did badly or failed to do.” — Peter Drucker
Charles Freeborn Eteure is the author of this article. He is a passionate web developer and technology Enthusiast. He writes from Warri , Nigeria
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