August 17, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Failed Projects
August 18, 2017 at 8:33 am
... As I've looked back, I realize it was a dysfunctional company, but I think I could have made a difference, stepped up as CTO (it was offered to me) and driven things forward...
I think all of us who have been in the industry for a decade or two have had an experience similar to this before, especially early on. However, that last part about how they offered up the position of CTO was an interesting footnote. So, how common is it for a developer who has been with the company for only two years to suddenly be offered a C level position? Maybe that's normal for a start-up, but based on the situation as described, it was perhaps just at attempt to keep a warm body behind the wheel as the ship went down rather than an actual commitment to turn things around.
There is an old saying that: "It takes a village to raise a child.". Well, likewise one individual acting alone can't turn things around for an organization, if most everyone else has already given up or for whatever other reason are untractable. In that situation, grabbing the nearest lifebuoy and bailing over the side is in one's personal best interest, as well as being in the best interests of one's family who depend on us to make rational career decisions on their behalf, and it may not matter one way or the other in terms of the outcome for everyone else.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
August 18, 2017 at 11:41 am
Eric M Russell - Friday, August 18, 2017 8:33 AM... As I've looked back, I realize it was a dysfunctional company, but I think I could have made a difference, stepped up as CTO (it was offered to me) and driven things forward...
I think all of us who have been in the industry for a decade or two have had an experience similar to this before, especially early on. However, that last part about how they offered up the position of CTO was an interesting footnote. So, how common is it for a developer who has been with the company for only two years to suddenly be offered a C level position? Maybe that's normal for a start-up, but based on the situation as described, it was perhaps just at attempt to keep a warm body behind the wheel as the ship went down rather than an actual commitment to turn things around.
There is an old saying that: "It takes a village to raise a child.". Well, likewise one individual acting alone can't turn things around for an organization, if most everyone else has already given up or for whatever other reason are untractable. In that situation, grabbing the nearest lifebuoy and bailing over the side is in one's personal best interest, as well as being in the best interests of one's family who depend on us to make rational career decisions on their behalf, and it may not matter one way or the other in terms of the outcome for everyone else.
Agreed! If you think of a company as a ship out in the ocean, you then have to ask yourself, is the capitan sound of mind? Will this ship reach port, or sink?
As for failed projects, I think we all have had one or two that could have gone much better. As for the CTO position, we'll don't beat yourself up about that. Might of gone well, or it could have ended poorly, it is history. Having had several executive positions, they sound great, but many are 24/7 headaches.
The more you are prepared, the less you need it.
August 18, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Wow, sounds so much like what I experienced many years ago also. Maybe it is something we all go through in the search for work place happiness. I have always liked keeping my hands dirty, getting into the nuts and bolts of things, being a leader, but also being a grunt, working side by side with my team. I have often turned down promotions that required me to leave the trenches and sit behind a desk delegating to others - I need to be in the mix of it; it makes me happy.
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