How to Avoid The “Good Enough” Developer
Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash
You don’t want to be The Good Enough Developer. You don’t want to hire a Good Enough Developer.
Here is a guide to avoiding The Good Enough Developer within yourself and while recruiting.
The Good Enough Developer
It sounds dodgy, but a constant refrain we hear at work is “If it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me”.
Not literally though.
The Good Enough Developer will work just enough to get things done. Enough doesn’t mean the developer is good lazy. Bad lazy is the way to describe these developers.
Lacking professionalism. Lacking conscientiousness.
They do have solid good points too in that they also lack perfectionism.
Choose Anything Over Good Enough
It can be a nightmare working with a perfectionist. They can work too long (in terms of hours) be finicky about code reviews…
and the rest of it.
However, we can overcome these bad points. They can be trained out of a developer. These traits and habits can be changed over time.
Here is how to avoid becoming the Good Enough developer
It doesn’t matter what work environment you are in. Your colleagues might be happy with mediocre code and development practices that you do not respect.
You should instead never settle for doing less than your best work. Always seek perfection and never settle for less.
If you’re not working for a FAANG company it doesn’t mean that your standards should be lower. Professional requirements should be met, no matter the situation.
Here is how to avoid hiring the Good Enough developer
Since the Good Enough developer is satisfied with less than their best work they should be avoided. The reason is that they lack professional ethics, and particularly if they become dissatisfied with a position they will likely stay in the position and simply down tools.
On the other end of the scale if you employ a perfectionist they will be trouble. However, you will have the opportunity to help them work and develop into the best they can be. And they will want to get there.
Conclusion
Always be the person who wants to do well. Always employ the person who wants to do well.
Iterate on good, and you’ll become great.
What sort of self-help style rubbish is that?