Team Sports and Developers
Not usually two words you here go hand-in-hand but here I was thinking about this over the weekend and it brought up some past thoughts I had on the subject. It's always an interesting experience the first time you play a team sport with a co-worker, we've all been there and at the end of it the reactions usually range from it having been a great experience to you preferring to have a root canal done... twice... in the same day. Having thought about this a little over the weekend I got to thinking about every interview I've ever conducted where I asked a question related to teamwork, leadership, conflict, etc (you know the soft-skills, the skills that separate the transformers from the toaster ovens);
Do you enjoy working in teams or on your own? Oh both, yessir, I am definitely a team player but I am also happy to work on my own and get the job done. (They should post that answer on StockAnswers.com and rent it out).
Or
How would you resolve a conflict with a fellow co-worker or manager? Oh, well, let's be honest we wouldn't have any disagreements (wink, wink) BUT in the odd case that we would, I'd get everyone together and talk through it calmly and rationally so we can come to a win-win conclusion for everyone involved (again see StockAnswers.com).
Now let's re-phrase the two questions into some sports venacular;
If you are on my team, are you going to pass the ball or try and take it to the net on your own, every time, even when someone is open?
Or
When someone from the other team commits a penalty against you are the type to go nuts on that player argue to the nth degree with the referee, maybe seek some retribution? Or do you move on and keep playing?
Both sets of questions are pretty much the same, the only thing that changed was the context. You might think the adreline only comes into play in sports, but you'd be wrong - I've seen developers become possessive and highly argumentative about theirs and others code - true story.
It's very probable that the answers you would get to the above questions would be from StockAnswers.com, but maybe some die-hard players would start to open up a little bit (which is what we want);
- "Well if the opposing team is running my goalie, I'm going to get in their way and block them" - alright, willing to take one for the team and protect his group - leadership potential.
- "Well the ball went out on me and the ref called it the other way so I told him it was on me" - solid, honesty and respect for other teams in the organization.
- "I scored on our team once, but went out and kept trying" - READ: when I broke last night's build, it was my fault, so I stayed later to get it up and running so QA wouldn't be too far behind.
I wish it were that easy, I love both individual and team sports - I love seeing the transitions in personality in people I work with and when you step back to watch them you can totally see the similarities in how they approach their work, their style and ethics.
I am seriously looking forward to my next Interview because I'm thinking I'm going to hold it in a gym - play a little one-on-one, floor hockey, dodgeball, anything - if they get past that phase, I'll inject some technical questions near the end. At the very least, if the interview goes sideways I would have gotten some exercise and had a fun night at the gym.
BTW - We need more examples of sportsmanship like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOMN__ozGSI