I think about Spolsky's post on programmer productivity quite often [1]. I think the most interesting part of the post is when he says, "The mediocre talent just
never hits the high notes that the top talent hits all the time." Obviously, I wonder if I am a programmer who can hit the high notes and, if not, what it will take to get there.
When I read a post like this, I try to apply it to making myself a better programmer in the "high note" sense. Trouble is - it just doesn't apply (and I am a huge fan of Dweck's work). This article is one for the masses - not people who are trying to create the next Google. Motivation, hard work and an ability to learn from mistakes are all necessary, but ultimately not sufficient for our craft.
If I had to guess what the missing ingredient is, I would say creativity.
Heck - we are programmers. We get immediate feedback on our mistakes all day long and anyone reading this post has most likely gotten really really good and learning from those mistakes. ...but, how many of us are hitting those high notes?
[1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html
When I read a post like this, I try to apply it to making myself a better programmer in the "high note" sense. Trouble is - it just doesn't apply (and I am a huge fan of Dweck's work). This article is one for the masses - not people who are trying to create the next Google. Motivation, hard work and an ability to learn from mistakes are all necessary, but ultimately not sufficient for our craft.
If I had to guess what the missing ingredient is, I would say creativity.
Heck - we are programmers. We get immediate feedback on our mistakes all day long and anyone reading this post has most likely gotten really really good and learning from those mistakes. ...but, how many of us are hitting those high notes?
[1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html