Redefining Technology Talent

This is the first part of a two part post aimed at determining the meaning of talent in software development and then identifying that talent within a candidate pool. Latter is the subject of the second post.

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

I remind myself of this quote by Donald Rumsfeld whenever I am interviewing software developers. Rumsfeld was answering a serviceman on the dismal state of armour and equipment at troops’ disposal in Iraq. But I take this quote in a wider context as being not just about materials but also personnel.

I consider recruiting software developers as building an army (i.e., teams) that I would want to go on campaigns with to deliver effective, efficient and economical technology. Equally challenging is ensuring that these teams stay relevant in the face of rapid technological advancements and business transformations. This requires focusing on a range of skills and attributes beyond just their technical knowledge and skills relevant to the current project.

Key skills and attributes to seek in talented software developers besides their technical knowledge and skills include the following,

Growth Mindset

Humility to understand that knowledge continues to stretch beyond the capacity of the best of us but still have the eagerness and energy to learn and apply what is relevant, necessary or interesting.

Ownership

Taking pride in themselves and their work. Accepting responsibility and offering themselves for accountability.

Communication and Collaboration

Effective expression and comprehension because software development is a lot more social than actually perceived. Developers need to communicate and collaborate with each other to resolve dependencies, with product owners to clarify requirements and with project and programme managers to report progress.

Empathy

Technology is developed by humans for humans. For it to be effective and useful, developers must understand and accommodate the concerns and apprehensions of users and those who support, maintain and extend these systems.

Combined these constitute an individual’s attitude and attitude determines altitude. A single highly skilled and knowledgeable programmer lacking in their attitude can be hugely disruptive not just for their team but also for the entire organisation and related businesses.

Conversely, a team with members possessing above mentioned attributes has the potential of delivering superior technology and providing the businesses and users dependent on it the competitive advantage they need to succeed.

That is an army a business will always want for their technology campaigns. In the second part of this post I will discuss how they may build it.