Recently I joined forces with Citrix Systems here in Patras. Citrix is an American multinational software company that provides server, application and desktop virtualization, networking, software as a service, and cloud computing technologies according to Wikipedia.
For personal and professional reasons this transition was a tough choice to make. Based on this choice, I would like to explain how I try to see the profession of the programmer though the lens of everyday life for ensuring constant progress and better decision making. Thus the pompous post title about projecting. From now on Life and Profession will be used interchangeably.
As you have discovered or if you are still discovering like me, Life often can be quite difficult. Unexpected challenges and long periods of frustration can be the de facto of the adult life. You will often struggle, feel overwhelmed by helplessness and loss. By using projection this can be translated easily into unexpected deliverables and struggle through difficult taks and boss or even a job loss, among others.
The reality is that at the time being I am feeling pretty anxious about my carrer path at Citrix as a newcomer. Luckily the first evidence of my incubation shows that it was a wise choice. But what if it was not? The right mindset is not asking whether is it going to be a great choice but what can I do in order for it to become! This is the Difference Between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People. Successful people tend to approach life with an open mindset that is, with an eagerness to learn and a willingness to be wrong. It is through this process that some people manage to make constant progress.
Reflecting on the elements of happy life (assuming family, healthy relatioships and a passion for living are the top three), healthy and strong teamwork and innovative and creative projects can provide two of the three elements for a successful programming career path (namely relationships and a passion for living). The last one, for me, the projection of family into programming is what I call mentoring. Intentionally I left it last because, often it is neglected and especially from junior programmers like me, with devastating results, either on techical or non-technical skills in our future selves. This can be explained, as graduate programmers cannot understand that this is the time that they are really doing their first steps and not at the university and thus guidance is necessary. Also by admitting that you need a mentor is often mistakengly seen as incompetence instead of open mindness.
Personally, I just asked from my manager that I want a mentor to carefully guide me through the unexpected challenges of Profession (Life) and I can’t wait to keep you updated about the outcome. 😄