Your dream project
Some luck. You know exactly that. He has a widescreen monitor on his desk that can replace the screen in a movie theater. The computer, sheltered under an expensive oak table, is more powerful than WOPR from the old movie “War Games”. And, of course, do not forget that all this is in a separate room in which you can even close the door with a key (of course, for extremely important reasons). And if it’s not enough for you humans because of office partitions, remember that this dude is responsible for the coolest projects and uses the most sexy and newest technologies. He is one of those whom all other mortals on dreary nights dream to be, instead of sleeping. But why is he so lucky?
The fact is that most programmers lead a rather monotonous lifestyle. These geeks, knocking on the keyboard and sunbathing from the light of the monitor, are real computer wizards, but, nevertheless, they know little about the world around them. If you really want to find out why Supergik from the previous example is so lucky, you have to do something that you could not see in your worst nightmare. Need to drink with the guys from marketing. Seriously. I am not kidding. And yes, I'm not drunk yet. Fair.
I see how you got a slide rule in the last row and try to figure out how all this is even remotely related to the dream project. Especially the last marketing passage. Although I really do not want to explain, just to laugh at your sprawling face, I’ll reveal a secret: marketing guys know what most techies aren’t able to realize - you won’t get anything unless you ask for anything. No, this is not another Zen statement wise in its simplicity. This is, in fact, life.
Your lucky acquaintance, who sends you out of his cozy office, while we are here to reason, to lock him up and have a chat with his next girlfriend, got all this not only because the wind of fate once blew in his direction. Just the opposite. If you had watched a day, then you would understand that he was just calling out at the metro, handing out flyers advertising his beloved. All this turned out to be with him only because he asked for this in clear text or put into the heads of the management the idea that he needed it. You, on the other hand, were bustling with countless unpaid overtime hours, expecting that one day the management would miraculously notice all your merits and reward them. If you overhear Mr. Lucky’s conversation with his girlfriend in a locked office, you can find out what he thinks you still believe in good fairies. In life, it does not happen.
')
Are all other mortals cursed and doomed to work hard while others receive all the joys and riches? I do not think so. I do not know about you, I hate to lose. And now the basic idea that must be remembered: it is impossible to win without playing. Tired of plowing 20 hours a day, raking the code of some crazy person? Did you use technologies that were outdated during the first landing on the moon? Did you miss the sensations you received from learning new languages ​​and creating flight programs? Then take your coffee, sit down close and, for God's sake, throw your line. People are watching.
The first question is not always the easiest, what would you think there. Want a project of your dreams? Then go ahead! In a clear and understandable language, write down everything that you think should consist of a rook of carefree and fun programming. Everything, put the handle, time has left. What are you mumbling about? Only two points written? That's it. The first step, to get what you want, is a clear understanding of what it is. So, take a pen and this time spend as many hours or days as you need to create a detailed list. Here are some questions to help you.
Of course, you will easily continue the list. But that is not all. A cool project is not just technology. Who do you want to be: a project manager, team leader, or an ordinary employee who knocks the code? Do you want to develop architecture? Oh, and do not forget about toys. Computers, networks, printers, broadband access, laptops, handhelds and a whole bunch of all sorts of things from which you are dragged. Listen to me! There in the back row! Yes, I appeal to you! Put your line up! I have a carafe on the table, and I’m not afraid to throw it at you! Where did we leave off?
Of course, not only of the foregoing is the steep programming rook, but without a doubt, you can start with it. The main thing is that you know exactly what you want. You will be surprised when you find out how few people, programmers, and everyone else know what they want. By the way, these are the very people who cry louder and more mournfully about their bitter fate. Creatures are these people are not you find?
Now, when you have a list of desires, from which Santa Claus will tremble, you need to understand, and who will fulfill them. No need to talk with your fellow programmers about a cool project you would like to work on. They can sympathize with you, but they can do little to help. Instead, find a person or people who really can make decisions. Short definition of such people: they have the right to authorize work. They can be a project manager, a middle manager, a vice president, and, in general, any person who is above you in the food chain.
For the first raid on the country of creation of projects choose the goal easier. You are more likely to attract the attention of those and influence those with whom you regularly communicate. Just go and open the door of the office of the president of the company with his feet will not work, you will be bitten by the secret service chihuahua service guard. And this is not necessary for anyone. However, find all the people in your environment who can assign you to work on the project. Do not forget about other departments. Quite often, within companies, resources can be transferred from department to department. Do not think under whose flag you are. Think of the boat.
Remember this question and learn to answer it from someone else's point of view, and not just with your own. Although there are people who make money by deceiving and destroying others, in the long run, the path to success lies in creating benefits for the people you work with. Refers to life only through the prism of my own self - it's like standing on board a very small boat. Such an unstable position rarely leads to something good, and you get soaked to the skin, not even having time to realize it. Besides, nobody cares what you want there. Everyone is very busy with what they themselves want. Learn to help them in the fulfillment of their own desires, and they sprinkle your way with gold. As a bonus, you will sleep well, knowing that you live honestly. And this, agree, is priceless.
Now, adjusting your perception to identify someone else's benefits, look around your organization. What should be done to bring the company benefit? Are there processes that obviously need to be automated? Do not forget to look towards areas where technical improvements have already been implemented. What can be improved in these software systems? Don't forget that programmers cost money too. And the speed of product launch on the market is always important, even if the market is limited to departments in your company. If you can increase developer productivity with additional tools, code generators, libraries, extensions to the development environment, etc., etc. It means that you are able to bring additional benefits to the management community.
There is no such business in which there is nothing to improve. Most importantly, however, that the improvement was visible to managers, not just you. These may be two completely different things, but the only point of view that should be taken into account is the point of view of management. If you offer anything they deem worth, you're in the game. Just talk about what can make your life easier, you lost without finishing the first sentence. And this is hardly dishonest. They pay you to live better, not you. That is why you have a job.
Now that you have a list of ideas that can bring benefits (do you remember to take notes?), You need to go into details. Erase dust from the economics book that you last read before your exam at the institute, and remember that all companies exist "for profit." They are created for this purpose, and in order to speak the language of managers, you have to describe your proposals in this very way. Here are a few points to start.
Got it? All of the above allows a business to increase profitability directly or indirectly. However, you need to understand that not everyone in the company is interested in how profitable it is, even for managers. Often, managers really care only about their personal career and power. They will agree with all the items on this list, but he doesn’t motivate them to action. Accordingly, you must find something that will give them personal or professional benefit. Here is another list that will help to cope with this task.
You know what you want, who can give it, what needs to be done, and which company or person needs it. All that remains to be done is to make the decision maker believe that you can do it and allow you to do it. Just a minute, I noticed that as soon as I said “sell”, some of you started to twitch and again reached out to their lines. Look carefully, the decanter is still on the table. And my sight is devilishly accurate. Relax. It is not so difficult as it seems.
The most important thing on sale is not to try to be a seller. Be yourself - just an ordinary geek like you are. You will behave differently, cause suspicion and resistance. Insincerity is always felt. In the end, you are not trying to steal a mobile phone? You just talk to people you work with every day, and make a couple of ordinary sentences. The secret of the effectiveness of this approach is that you describe their benefits, not your own. This is the difference.
The first thing you need to remember, without hesitation, talking about the opportunities and benefits, and not about technology. As soon as you start talking about technology, you will find yourself in a situation where you describe the benefits for yourself. And this is death-like, that's why I drive you away from your slide rule. This is for your own good.
You didn’t come to talk about cool new technology, but to discuss ideas that would help strengthen your own professional and personal positions. This is the only way you will attract and keep their attention. In fact, try as little as possible to go into implementation details. Because they may want to argue about this. Also do not hurt. No need to talk about their intentions to anyone who has not yet become your reliable ally, deeply interested in your deal. You simply simply create competitors for yourself if others find out and start trying to pull the blanket over themselves.
The next point of our story is the prototype. In general, I am against prototyping in actual development for reasons that I don’t want to go into. However, when you try to sell, the prototype can be very useful. Spend some time creating a simple demo that will make it easy to demonstrate what you have in mind.
First, you can see what advantages will be obtained. Secondly, when there is a user interface, contrary to common sense, the application is perceived as "almost complete." You can already choose something from the menu. How much more needs to be done? Never mind. No matter what this code will have to throw. Your task, to interest, to show that success is so close that it is almost possible to touch him. Given that you are promoting the idea of ​​their own success, they will be happy to believe it.
While they are drooling on a wonderful instrument that will lift them to heights they haven’t dreamed of, tell us about how happy you will be to create it. I understand that you are busy with some kind of project, otherwise you would have been fired long ago. Now you need to describe how you will go to success. Tell them that you can be removed from the current project (“You know, that new guy is quite capable of doing the garbage I’m loading.”), Or that you can completely combine the new with your “real” work (“Look how productive I used forced breaks then and then. ”). In the latter case, do not despair. The additional load becomes the main load as soon as your boss sees the prospects and wants to speed up the long-awaited result. Also think about where you can get helpers (“By the way, Ivan, busy with the introduction, is now rattling pears, and he is competent enough to help”).
You already hooked the decision maker with something you want to do, and explained how to do it. The main mistake that even experienced salespeople make is not to complete the sale at this stage. Do not think that if you have explained all the advantages, they will tell you: “Cool, let's do it and do it?”. You can not do it this way. You must complete the transaction. The best way to the contrary is simple and is known as “making a deal”. The bottom line is that you need to continue the conversation as if he had already said yes. The easiest thing to do is start discussing your next step, and leave them only the opportunity to talk. It really works. Sellers do this for years. Why do you think I advised marketing beer to beer?
Many of you may not be able to abstract yourself enough, so I’ll give you a practical example from real life. My fellow programmer and I worked in a large corporation, where our department developed a library to validate the input data every time the system was sold to a new client in order to fully meet his needs. Because the logic was complicated, each such iteration took 6 months.
Our peema constantly had for low development speed, deadlines, disgruntled customers. Headache he added the need to comply with the requirements of variable wind speed. In short: he was not happy. We, too. And with each project, it got more and more.
My friend noticed that, in general, this is a job for the form generator. We organized a brainstorming session, figured out how to cross a raccoon with a rhinoceros, and told our manager that they were ready to make the tool in less time than a library is made for one client; and when it is ready, what took half a year will be done in a couple of weeks. The only word he said was: "Let's go." We looked around, played with the most modern technologies and achieved success. When we finished, the app did exactly what we promised.
By the way, remember, I said that you should not make a fuss ahead of time? Other programmers heard about our initiative, though after making a decision, and were saddened. They were hired employees (like us) and were afraid that this thing would leave them without work. (I will not be dispersed about ethics here.) In general, when we finished our application and dealt with the next contract, they got rid of it and started writing again for half a year. Although who cares? We won, fulfilled our promises, and our project manager began to consider us like gods on the old Olympus. In fact, the only reason they managed to get rid of our tool is to raise our manager. If all of this doesn’t seem to you like a classic winner-winner deal, then you’ve been busy with your line instead of listening.
Well, the last tip. Start small. You will gradually improve your skills, but nothing strengthens self-confidence in the same way as victories won. Very soon you will have a reputation as a guy for whom the impossible is impossible. Most likely, even before you understand it yourself, you will send us out of your posh office to lock the door and chat with another girlfriend. Of course, everyone will think that you are just lucky.
The fact is that most programmers lead a rather monotonous lifestyle. These geeks, knocking on the keyboard and sunbathing from the light of the monitor, are real computer wizards, but, nevertheless, they know little about the world around them. If you really want to find out why Supergik from the previous example is so lucky, you have to do something that you could not see in your worst nightmare. Need to drink with the guys from marketing. Seriously. I am not kidding. And yes, I'm not drunk yet. Fair.
I see how you got a slide rule in the last row and try to figure out how all this is even remotely related to the dream project. Especially the last marketing passage. Although I really do not want to explain, just to laugh at your sprawling face, I’ll reveal a secret: marketing guys know what most techies aren’t able to realize - you won’t get anything unless you ask for anything. No, this is not another Zen statement wise in its simplicity. This is, in fact, life.
Your lucky acquaintance, who sends you out of his cozy office, while we are here to reason, to lock him up and have a chat with his next girlfriend, got all this not only because the wind of fate once blew in his direction. Just the opposite. If you had watched a day, then you would understand that he was just calling out at the metro, handing out flyers advertising his beloved. All this turned out to be with him only because he asked for this in clear text or put into the heads of the management the idea that he needed it. You, on the other hand, were bustling with countless unpaid overtime hours, expecting that one day the management would miraculously notice all your merits and reward them. If you overhear Mr. Lucky’s conversation with his girlfriend in a locked office, you can find out what he thinks you still believe in good fairies. In life, it does not happen.
')
Are all other mortals cursed and doomed to work hard while others receive all the joys and riches? I do not think so. I do not know about you, I hate to lose. And now the basic idea that must be remembered: it is impossible to win without playing. Tired of plowing 20 hours a day, raking the code of some crazy person? Did you use technologies that were outdated during the first landing on the moon? Did you miss the sensations you received from learning new languages ​​and creating flight programs? Then take your coffee, sit down close and, for God's sake, throw your line. People are watching.
What do you want?
The first question is not always the easiest, what would you think there. Want a project of your dreams? Then go ahead! In a clear and understandable language, write down everything that you think should consist of a rook of carefree and fun programming. Everything, put the handle, time has left. What are you mumbling about? Only two points written? That's it. The first step, to get what you want, is a clear understanding of what it is. So, take a pen and this time spend as many hours or days as you need to create a detailed list. Here are some questions to help you.
- What languages ​​do you want to write?
- What APIs?
- And what about the Internet?
- And what kind of functionality?
- Under what gadgets we implement the interface?
- Multimedia?
- Database?
- Speech recognition?
Of course, you will easily continue the list. But that is not all. A cool project is not just technology. Who do you want to be: a project manager, team leader, or an ordinary employee who knocks the code? Do you want to develop architecture? Oh, and do not forget about toys. Computers, networks, printers, broadband access, laptops, handhelds and a whole bunch of all sorts of things from which you are dragged. Listen to me! There in the back row! Yes, I appeal to you! Put your line up! I have a carafe on the table, and I’m not afraid to throw it at you! Where did we leave off?
Of course, not only of the foregoing is the steep programming rook, but without a doubt, you can start with it. The main thing is that you know exactly what you want. You will be surprised when you find out how few people, programmers, and everyone else know what they want. By the way, these are the very people who cry louder and more mournfully about their bitter fate. Creatures are these people are not you find?
Who will you call?
Now, when you have a list of desires, from which Santa Claus will tremble, you need to understand, and who will fulfill them. No need to talk with your fellow programmers about a cool project you would like to work on. They can sympathize with you, but they can do little to help. Instead, find a person or people who really can make decisions. Short definition of such people: they have the right to authorize work. They can be a project manager, a middle manager, a vice president, and, in general, any person who is above you in the food chain.
For the first raid on the country of creation of projects choose the goal easier. You are more likely to attract the attention of those and influence those with whom you regularly communicate. Just go and open the door of the office of the president of the company with his feet will not work, you will be bitten by the secret service chihuahua service guard. And this is not necessary for anyone. However, find all the people in your environment who can assign you to work on the project. Do not forget about other departments. Quite often, within companies, resources can be transferred from department to department. Do not think under whose flag you are. Think of the boat.
And so what?
Remember this question and learn to answer it from someone else's point of view, and not just with your own. Although there are people who make money by deceiving and destroying others, in the long run, the path to success lies in creating benefits for the people you work with. Refers to life only through the prism of my own self - it's like standing on board a very small boat. Such an unstable position rarely leads to something good, and you get soaked to the skin, not even having time to realize it. Besides, nobody cares what you want there. Everyone is very busy with what they themselves want. Learn to help them in the fulfillment of their own desires, and they sprinkle your way with gold. As a bonus, you will sleep well, knowing that you live honestly. And this, agree, is priceless.
Now, adjusting your perception to identify someone else's benefits, look around your organization. What should be done to bring the company benefit? Are there processes that obviously need to be automated? Do not forget to look towards areas where technical improvements have already been implemented. What can be improved in these software systems? Don't forget that programmers cost money too. And the speed of product launch on the market is always important, even if the market is limited to departments in your company. If you can increase developer productivity with additional tools, code generators, libraries, extensions to the development environment, etc., etc. It means that you are able to bring additional benefits to the management community.
There is no such business in which there is nothing to improve. Most importantly, however, that the improvement was visible to managers, not just you. These may be two completely different things, but the only point of view that should be taken into account is the point of view of management. If you offer anything they deem worth, you're in the game. Just talk about what can make your life easier, you lost without finishing the first sentence. And this is hardly dishonest. They pay you to live better, not you. That is why you have a job.
Now that you have a list of ideas that can bring benefits (do you remember to take notes?), You need to go into details. Erase dust from the economics book that you last read before your exam at the institute, and remember that all companies exist "for profit." They are created for this purpose, and in order to speak the language of managers, you have to describe your proposals in this very way. Here are a few points to start.
- Revenue increase
- Reduction in production costs
- Productivity improvement
- Accelerate product entry
- Higher sales due to the introduction of additional tools
- Reduced decision time using specialized reports
- Reduced support costs
- Increase customer satisfaction index
- Payroll reduction
Got it? All of the above allows a business to increase profitability directly or indirectly. However, you need to understand that not everyone in the company is interested in how profitable it is, even for managers. Often, managers really care only about their personal career and power. They will agree with all the items on this list, but he doesn’t motivate them to action. Accordingly, you must find something that will give them personal or professional benefit. Here is another list that will help to cope with this task.
- Increased budget control
- Raising status in the eyes of their leaders
- All the good of their ego
- Strengthening of power (expansion of territories)
- Big salaries and bonuses
- Reduction of their personal participation in the work
- Opportunities for self-promotion
- More subordinate employees
- Corporate buns (office, equipment, hospitality)
Sell
You know what you want, who can give it, what needs to be done, and which company or person needs it. All that remains to be done is to make the decision maker believe that you can do it and allow you to do it. Just a minute, I noticed that as soon as I said “sell”, some of you started to twitch and again reached out to their lines. Look carefully, the decanter is still on the table. And my sight is devilishly accurate. Relax. It is not so difficult as it seems.
The most important thing on sale is not to try to be a seller. Be yourself - just an ordinary geek like you are. You will behave differently, cause suspicion and resistance. Insincerity is always felt. In the end, you are not trying to steal a mobile phone? You just talk to people you work with every day, and make a couple of ordinary sentences. The secret of the effectiveness of this approach is that you describe their benefits, not your own. This is the difference.
The first thing you need to remember, without hesitation, talking about the opportunities and benefits, and not about technology. As soon as you start talking about technology, you will find yourself in a situation where you describe the benefits for yourself. And this is death-like, that's why I drive you away from your slide rule. This is for your own good.
You didn’t come to talk about cool new technology, but to discuss ideas that would help strengthen your own professional and personal positions. This is the only way you will attract and keep their attention. In fact, try as little as possible to go into implementation details. Because they may want to argue about this. Also do not hurt. No need to talk about their intentions to anyone who has not yet become your reliable ally, deeply interested in your deal. You simply simply create competitors for yourself if others find out and start trying to pull the blanket over themselves.
Interest
The next point of our story is the prototype. In general, I am against prototyping in actual development for reasons that I don’t want to go into. However, when you try to sell, the prototype can be very useful. Spend some time creating a simple demo that will make it easy to demonstrate what you have in mind.
First, you can see what advantages will be obtained. Secondly, when there is a user interface, contrary to common sense, the application is perceived as "almost complete." You can already choose something from the menu. How much more needs to be done? Never mind. No matter what this code will have to throw. Your task, to interest, to show that success is so close that it is almost possible to touch him. Given that you are promoting the idea of ​​their own success, they will be happy to believe it.
Tell me how simple it is
While they are drooling on a wonderful instrument that will lift them to heights they haven’t dreamed of, tell us about how happy you will be to create it. I understand that you are busy with some kind of project, otherwise you would have been fired long ago. Now you need to describe how you will go to success. Tell them that you can be removed from the current project (“You know, that new guy is quite capable of doing the garbage I’m loading.”), Or that you can completely combine the new with your “real” work (“Look how productive I used forced breaks then and then. ”). In the latter case, do not despair. The additional load becomes the main load as soon as your boss sees the prospects and wants to speed up the long-awaited result. Also think about where you can get helpers (“By the way, Ivan, busy with the introduction, is now rattling pears, and he is competent enough to help”).
Complete the sale!
You already hooked the decision maker with something you want to do, and explained how to do it. The main mistake that even experienced salespeople make is not to complete the sale at this stage. Do not think that if you have explained all the advantages, they will tell you: “Cool, let's do it and do it?”. You can not do it this way. You must complete the transaction. The best way to the contrary is simple and is known as “making a deal”. The bottom line is that you need to continue the conversation as if he had already said yes. The easiest thing to do is start discussing your next step, and leave them only the opportunity to talk. It really works. Sellers do this for years. Why do you think I advised marketing beer to beer?
Example A
Many of you may not be able to abstract yourself enough, so I’ll give you a practical example from real life. My fellow programmer and I worked in a large corporation, where our department developed a library to validate the input data every time the system was sold to a new client in order to fully meet his needs. Because the logic was complicated, each such iteration took 6 months.
Our peema constantly had for low development speed, deadlines, disgruntled customers. Headache he added the need to comply with the requirements of variable wind speed. In short: he was not happy. We, too. And with each project, it got more and more.
My friend noticed that, in general, this is a job for the form generator. We organized a brainstorming session, figured out how to cross a raccoon with a rhinoceros, and told our manager that they were ready to make the tool in less time than a library is made for one client; and when it is ready, what took half a year will be done in a couple of weeks. The only word he said was: "Let's go." We looked around, played with the most modern technologies and achieved success. When we finished, the app did exactly what we promised.
By the way, remember, I said that you should not make a fuss ahead of time? Other programmers heard about our initiative, though after making a decision, and were saddened. They were hired employees (like us) and were afraid that this thing would leave them without work. (I will not be dispersed about ethics here.) In general, when we finished our application and dealt with the next contract, they got rid of it and started writing again for half a year. Although who cares? We won, fulfilled our promises, and our project manager began to consider us like gods on the old Olympus. In fact, the only reason they managed to get rid of our tool is to raise our manager. If all of this doesn’t seem to you like a classic winner-winner deal, then you’ve been busy with your line instead of listening.
Well, the last tip. Start small. You will gradually improve your skills, but nothing strengthens self-confidence in the same way as victories won. Very soon you will have a reputation as a guy for whom the impossible is impossible. Most likely, even before you understand it yourself, you will send us out of your posh office to lock the door and chat with another girlfriend. Of course, everyone will think that you are just lucky.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/95401/
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