At JDriven our mission is to improve the quality of software engineering. This is a great and noble cause and also something that cannot be achieved in isolation. I believe this is something that the entire community should be aiming for and can be achieved with the right mindset.

But how can you stimulate and create this state of mind and environment where quality and productivity go hand in hand? First let me start by saying this is my point of view and by no means a silver bullet. Just read and take what you think is useful and leave out what’s not.

I love to work with people that are passionate about their job and highly motivated to learn and help others. Passion builds motivation and those combined are the two key ingredients that connect people. This stimulates people to learn and ask the most important question “Why are we doing things this way?”.

Like I said, learning is much more than understanding how a framework or language works. It is also about understanding why it works in a certain way and what problems are solved and even more important, what limitations a solution could impose.

I love sports and have always been a huge fan of Michael Jordan and the way he approaches his sport, with passion and dedication. Always striving for the best and understanding all elements that can influence the result. This isn’t any different in our line of work. In order to deliver high quality software you need to understand what the specific requirements are that need to be addressed and how your playing field is built up.

Like Michael Jordan, software engineers mostly work in teams where team dynamics, atmosphere and culture are of great importance. That’s why the quote “There is no I in team but there is in win” also applies to our line of work. Whereas a win can be seen as delivering the solution the customer needs, but within the commercial boundaries and also with the quality we can be proud of.

As mentioned earlier, the atmosphere and culture surrounding the team can make a great difference in the result of the team but also in the job satisfaction of those involved. In my opinion you should strive for a Tech Culture first, that fuels the passion and motivation of the people in it. On our JDriven website we have published a whitepaper (in Dutch) on how we created such an environment within our company.

What it boils down to is trust, stimulation and guidance without trying to control the outcome or the professional. When these ingredients are all in place, results will follow and both the organization and the professional will grow constantly.

With this short blog post I hope to have provided some insights in how we can improve as a community by taking the right steps as an organization or as professionals.

Erik