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Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#41

Post by cubano »

Another possible vector to this discussion is that everyone here are OTP's, as to the vast majority of the population, we make computers work and build stuff that other people can't or don't want to build.

Now I think we should all keep our eyes out for new tools that make our OTP lives easier and more productive, but learning new stuff just for the sake of learning...sure, maybe, IF you don't have any other interests outside of your technical life.

For example, I play guitar and compose electronic music...there are simply no where near enough hours in a day to not only work a paying job to finance my lifestyle, but to practice and produce music.

Something has to give.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#43

Post by cjeane »

Luyt wrote: post #10
spiralpolitik wrote: post #3

They said that for the mainframe and mini people at the end of the 90s and yet all the people who I know who worked in those areas are still employed, still making good money, and will still be doing so for the foreseeable future. Technology lasts a surprisingly long time and not everybody needs to keep jumping on the new hotness.

I visited a workshop a few weeks ago, and also attending was a COBOL programmer (in his 50s) who still was active on that platform. I wonder whether it could be lucrative to learn COBOL (and CICS!) and work on those legacy systems that are still out there. "While CICS has its highest profile among financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, over 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies are reported to ru…

The COBOL classes at my university were basically sponsored by a large local bank, and they would give a job offer to anyone the professor recommended.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#44

Post by steverb »

venomsnake wrote: post #16

I treat languages and frameworks as tools. Oftentimes disposable. My real value is being able to solve a problem in a timely manner. Or even recognize it. With internet so wide and vast there will be people that are better than me at anything.

I agree, but it's hard to solve the "drive a screw" problem if you've never seen a screw driver or even know they exist.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#46

Post by kibwen »

Agathos wrote: post #37
Aardwolf wrote: post #35

I don't think C++ would become obsolete any time soon, right?

Please do not taunt the Rust fans.

I can tell you that Rust fans have a healthy respect for C++. There's nothing like trying to compete with C++ that makes you appreciate just how good it is at its domain (even if it does basically punt on safety (turns out it's a Hard Problem))!

Trust me, if Mozilla were merely trying to exploit the depressing SV hype cycle, they'd have built a pretty-looking dynamic language rather than anything with semicolons. :P

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#47

Post by Rapzid »

edw519 wrote: post #29

Disclaimer: One Trick Pony. My trick: satisfying my customer's requirements, whatever they are, with whatever tools I need. Some of the tools I used in the past year are less that 5 years old, some more than 30 years old, and some much older than that (pencil & paper on a clipboard on a loading dock). Figuring out what your customer needs, then what you need, and coming up to speed on that is much more important that…

Delivering results like they are going out of style. Crush'a challenge.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#48

Post by gk1 »

It seems a lot of the commenters are looking at this like a black-and-white issue... Either you're a generalist or a specialist who does nothing else.

I think the best place to be in is right in the middle: the "T" engineer (or "T" marketer, "T" designer, etc). It means you have deep knowledge of one vertical, and a shallow knowledge of many related verticles. (Get it? It's a T shape.)

This type of person is damn good at solving anything within their vertical (and gets paid accordingly), but knows enough about related fields that they're not blinded by their own expertise.

As a technical marketer who also knows some code, some design, some B2B sales, etc, I've found those "shallow" skills to be tremendously valuable. Not because I can promise clients to debug their app (I don't), but because I can communicate with the development team, the design team, the inbound marketing team, ... without hitting a language barrier.

So don't be a one-trick pony and don't be a jack-of-all-trades. Be a T.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#49

Post by falcolas »

mrbig4545 wrote: post #15

jack of all trades, master of none. no thanks, i'll stick to being an expert (and getting paid accordingly) in one field, and adjust when needed. you don't get brick layers randomly learning carpet fitting and welding "just incase"

The actual phrase is:

   A jack of all trades
   Master of none
   Is still better
   Than a master of one
Worth keeping in mind when looking for a metaphor.

Re: Please Do Not Be a One Trick Pony

#50

Post by codingdave »

This also depends on where you are in your career. I would not call myself a One Trick Pony, but I am specialized enough in legacy systems that I face the same danger.

However, I can play this to my advantage -- as more and more of my colleagues have moved on to greener pastures, I have specialized in modernizing these old system to Web-based UIs, as well as doing consulting projects to migrate the applications to new platforms or simply shut down the old systems. As time goes on, the rates for these projects are increasing. I am also old enough to have a nest egg built up, while leading a simple life with a smaller monthly "burn rate" in my personal life than most other people I know.

For me, I can ride this tech until it dies. It will be the end of my tech career. But then comes a semi-retirement where I can get by with the residual income I get from a couple of my side projects and my little hobby farm.

So the real lesson is that being a one trick pony can be a terrible thing... or you can be aware of your situation, and be prepared for it. If I had no nest egg, no residual income, and no plan to change my lifestyle when the meteor hits, I'd be in trouble. Instead, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

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