Progressive Development : values

Motley says: "Building a great team is all about finding the best coders"

James Waletzky — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:25:00 GMT

Summary

Motley: The last person I interviewed was a coding wizard! She'll make a great addition to the team!

Maven: Coding is important, but good team members must match team values, be strong in the core competencies, and be passionate about what they do.

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[Context: Motley is reflecting on an interview he just conducted with a job candidate]

Motley: I just finished interviewing a candidate for a position on our team. She was a coding wizard on the whiteboard! IQ is off the charts! I think she would make a great fit for the team.

Maven: Good stuff! Did she seem like she would be good to work with? Was she a nice person?

Motley: Well, she actually came across as a bit ego-centered and my first impression, although it's hard to tell in 60 minutes, is that she has a pretty harsh personality - unlike me of course. She also was not the greatest communicator, but those coding skills were amazing!

Maven: No matter how good a coder she is, if she is not enjoyable to work with and cannot work well as a team, she will not be an asset. To be a good developer, you must do more than code.

Motley: Well, how do you really judge someone like that? What really makes a good team fit?

Maven: Several ways. Remember we talked about values previously? One reason it's a good idea to enumerate your values and the team's values is to make sure that new team members can fit within that value system. If the team values quality over number of features, someone that just cranks out code not caring about quality will not fit in. You probably don't want to come out and ask a new candidate explicitly for their values, but you can lead with questions that will surface them.

Motley: Our team definitely values great coders!

Maven: Yes, but there is more than that, right?

Motley: Fine. Quality is important. Being a good team player is important.

Maven: Something else to look for in new team members that they meet the core competencies of the team. Examples of competencies include passion for quality, technical passion, interpersonal skills, creativity, being action-oriented, having confidence, and listening and communication skills. It's important to enumerate the core competencies for both the team and the company to ensure that someone new has skills in those areas. For each position you want to fill, describe the competency levels that the new person is expected to possess. And don't forget, someone coming into a management role versus someone coming into an engineering role will have slightly different competencies.

Motley: So what do you do with these competencies?

Maven: Chances are good that a new team candidate will go through multiple interviews (i.e. more than one person). Assign each interviewer in the interview loop one or two of the core competencies to focus on, so that you get good coverage throughout the loop. Each interviewer can tailor their questions around their assigned competencies and come up with an overall rating for each competency. This approach brings more structured questioning to the interview and minimizes the odds of different interviewers probing the same areas. You get a more well-rounded evaluation of the candidate.

Motley: Ok. So we identify the core competencies and value system for the team, describe how well each candidate must match up with the competencies before they are hired, and assign different interviewers one or two competencies to probe. Sounds like a lot of work!

Maven: A little bit of work now pays off dividends later. Plus, you driving this process will look great on your next performance review!

Motley: I'll get right on this. Not for the review benefits of course, but because, ummm, for the good of the team.

Maven: And as for the new person you just interviewed?

Motley: Well, we didn't approach the interview from that perspective, but based on the competencies I have in mind, she meets technical passion just fine but fails on lots of the other stuff. No hire.

Maven: Sounds like the right decision to me.

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Maven's Pointer: Microsoft has spent a lot of time identifying the core competencies for various professions in the company. An example that is publicly available is the Microsoft Education Competencies, which follow very closely from software development competencies. Many competencies are in common and the general framework applies, including how to tailor interview questions. Check it out for a great example.

Maven's Resources: Microsoft's Mission and Values, Microsoft Education Competencies

Motley says: "Money - that's what I value!"

James Waletzky — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:54:00 GMT

Summary

Motley: Money is the thing I value most! Is there anything else?

Maven: Determine what your values are that guide your life both at work and outside work, and use that to derive a guiding personal vision statement.

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[Context: Motley and Maven are about to grab lunch on Maven's first day at the office]

Maven: It's noon! Want to grab some lunch?

Motley: Hmmm… let me see. Well, no one else around at the moment so I guess you'll have to do as a lunch partner.

Maven: Your enthusiasm is overwhelming. Want to chat about creating that personal vision statement?

Motley: I guess it beats the enema I had last week - but just barely.

Maven: Great! We talked about the importance of having a vision statement to help guide your decision making. A personal vision statement can be a great guide in your personal life as well. Let's start by figuring out what you value most.

Motley: Money, and um, money. Well, I guess writing code as quickly as possible is something else I value.

Maven: Think deeper! Let me give you an example. Some things that I value are:

Continuous Improvement: Personal growth is extremely important. Most of the activities I undertake involve self-improvement - bettering myself in some way.
Relationships: One cannot live alone. Building long-lasting bonds with friends and loved ones is important. Keeping in touch with old friends is paramount.
Quality: Excellence comes into play in everything I do - both personally and professionally. Quality is particularly important when the entity being constructed is for the benefit of others (like software).
Fun: All work and no play makes me a dull boy - even at work. Fun appears in everything I do, from building projects to building relationships.
Productivity: Time is rarely wasted, and when it is, I'm not too happy about it. I try to make the most of every spare moment (including multitasking) to incorporate the other values into my life.
Helping Others: Helping others achieve their goals is very satisfying. Through charitable giving, teaching others at work, or via some other mechanism, helping others with their problems is important.

Motley: That's deep, dude. Deep. So how am I supposed to figure out my values? I still think Money is top tier.

Maven: Everyone has different values. Just take some time to sit down and think about what governs your life. It need not be complicated. Think about how you live your life on a day-to-day basis and come up with a simple list of words. Give it a quick shot.

Motley: Okay, I'll humor you. How about writing great software, autonomy, being routine yet seizing the opportunity, having fun, leading by example, and being bold.

Maven: That's, errr, a start. We may need to explore that a bit further in the future. For now, think about those values, think about those things you do each and every day - both inside work and outside work - coupled with your personal strengths and weaknesses, and come up with one statement that defines you. We'll use this moving forward to help you make some key decisions in your life.

Motley: This still seems corny, but I'll humor you. How about: "To live each day to the fullest, do whatever I can to create great software by having all the junior developers at the company look up to my supreme example, all while being a funmeister and not taking crap from anyone." How's that?

Maven: Actually, it's a decent start. We'll work on refining as we go. The important part now is that you have a defining statement that characterizes you and acts as your life guide. Let's get back to it a little later. For now, let's eat. Sushi?

Motley: Today is not one of those days I feel like food poisoning. The enema kind of turned me off. Let's get burgers!

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Maven's Pointer: Here is a good exercise to go through when trying to figure out what your values are. Start with the set of words below. Add any you think are missing. Narrow down the list to the 15 values that really catch your eye. Then pare the list to 10 that start to define you, then to between 5 and 7. Those 5-7 values define you. It can be difficult to pare down to 7 or less, but think about how the words are in line with your daily actions. Be sure to write down the final list!

Achievement, Advancement, Adventure, Autonomy, Beauty, Belonging, Challenge, Communication, Competition, Cooperation, Creativity, Curiosity, Diversity, Duty, Effectiveness, Equality, Excitement, Experience, Family, Fun, Growth, Health, Helping Others, Honesty, Humor, Independence, Innovation, Integrity, Knowledge, Leisure, Mastery, Passion, Power, Prestige, Productivity, Quality, Relationship, Respect, Risk, Security, Self-Realization, Spirituality, Strength, Structure, Teamwork, Tranquility, Trust, Variety, Wealth, Wisdom

Maven's Resources: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, Free Press, ISBN: 0743269519, 2004.