College is what you make of it

April 4, 2012 by

Having read yet another diatribe against college, whereby author of said diatribe attends some classes, finds his or herself “bored” and quits college in disgust.

Personally, I had a pretty good time in college.

I didn’t go into a lot of debt, I met a lot of really cool people, and took some really interesting classes.

Perhaps if these unhappy people approached education with an open mind and asked what they could contribute, they might have “got a lot more out of college.”

In short, college is like anything else: if you don’t put anything in, you’re not getting anything out.

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An epiphany on frame control

March 21, 2012 by

There is a conversational technique called “frame control” where one person can arrange to control the interaction in any way he or she so chooses.

The term frame control implies a subtext of psychological manipulation on the part of the speaker.

(This carries over into writing.)

The epiphany: when someone is writing or speaking as to invite controversy, if they establish frame control, you have two choices:

  1. Agree with the speaker.
  2. Leave the conversation.

Discussion under these conditions serves only one purpose: maintaining the speaker’s frame.

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Recruiters as agents

March 2, 2012 by

If software development is turning into a team sport, perhaps software developers should be recruited similarly.

As top developers become courted in the same way as top athletes, perhaps recruiters should move to an “agent” model for recognizing, nurturing, developing and promoting talent.

How, then, are top developers recognized “in the field?”

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Freedom isn’t very important to most people

February 24, 2012 by

Having spent most of my life pursuing freedom and independence, I’ve observed most people don’t care about freedom.

Security, wealth, status and power people pursue vigorously. And all are purchased with the currency of freedom.

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Overly critical people sow seeds of uncertain fruit

February 13, 2012 by

If you’re reading here, you’re probably a member of one or more Meetup groups, mailing lists, or similar venues where people sharing common interests can share information and opinions.

One such mailing list, which I won’t name, has a regular member who is mildly but relentlessly critical of everything.

I’m glad I don’t have to work with him.

And that’s the coolest thing about such mailing lists and other public forums: I can see who I don’t want to work with in the future.

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Your Personal Value Proposition

January 28, 2012 by

What’s your PVP? You know, your Personal Value Proposition?

Do you know?

This is important, and here’s why: from observation, having a PVP separates you from the great mass of people who either do not have a PVP, or who cannot articulate their PVP. It’s similar to the USP – Unique Selling Proposition – marketers use for promoting businesses and products.

There’s more. Think about successful people, those who crave success, and everyone else:

  • A List: people who know and communicate their PVP and connect with each other.
  • B List: people who know and communicate A Lister’s PVPs, and connect up to A List, sometimes across, rarely down.
  • Everyone else: people who either don’t know or cannot articulate their PVP.

Which one are you?

From (again) experience, you the reader are most likely “Everyone else” or (a slight possibility) an A Lister. B Listers typically don’t connect down. “Everyone else” (let’s just say the “E List”) don’t connect well at all, in any direction.

Is this bad?

Hard to say. Highly connected people with huge networks assert it’s necessary for success, but that’s survivorship and self-selection bias: it was necessary for their success. People finding success without a large audience, without being highly connected, who hears about it? I personally know people who are massively successful, who are also incredibly reclusive. I didn’t meet them on Twitter or Facebook, to be sure.

And dammit, I just found out Smiley Ratliff passed on a couple of years ago.

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