Rock­star De­velopers

Salvador Molina and Juan Olalla's talk was one of the highlights of this year's DrupalCon. When talking about the fall of the Rockstar phenomena, the duo reflected on a few things worth more in-depth consideration.

Rockstars--whether they are developers or any other professionals-- are easy to recognize since

• they have skills in everything,

• they are up-to-date about the latest technologies,

• they often spend their free time learning something new, educating themselves, contributing to the more significant, common cause,

• they write Perfect codes / they always do The Right Thing,

• they can memorize everything.

Working with a Rockstar can be regarded as both a pleasure and a pain. Fun, since you always have someone help you save problems, others cannot solve it. Anxiety, because the work you deliver will never be good enough. He will always find a better solution. If you grab a beer after work, he won't stop telling stories about his achievements. The same story is being repeated over and over again: his colleague/ a client/ anyone fails to do something, then the Rockstar solves the problem, and everyone is happy.

A Rockstar is a Narcissistic character, the Superhero, the pure Genius who solves everything. Maybe everyone cherishes a dream of becoming a Rockstar one day. Employers seek Superheroes in their ads, and employees try to measure up to this standard.

At the top of the ladder

I have always been encouraged to find a ladder that I can use in my progression. A good employer offers a career with well-defined steps on the career ladder. The 'good worker' follows the path appointed to him. However, after a while, the steps are gone, and what the HR offers will not interest you, nothing truly challenges your skills. It is when the employee leaves the company and finds a bigger ladder to reach higher.

I don't think this is the way it should be. There is another approach to Success, which does not depend on outside forces. Do what you are good at and do what you like. Do you like coding? Then do it even when you are 50. There is no sense in pursuing a Chief Supervisor title if you don't like watching diagrams, and you long for writing exciting applications instead. The focus should not be on how to reach the highest position that ensures prestige and the power to give orders to others. Fulfillment has little to do with company hierarchy. What is essential is to feel good about your work when you are in your 50s.

The desire to become a Rockstar never leaves me ultimately. Sometimes I do not recognize it at all only when others warn me to back off a bit. Here I would like to list a few myths related to Rockstars that were mentioned at DrupalCon and make some comments based on my experiences.

1. Jack of all trades

I have strong opinions about many topics. Too loud, perhaps. It is difficult for me to listen to someone if I feel I am right. What helps me control this one-sided, dominant attitude is an environment where criticism and self-assertion can freely be expressed. I am trying to restrain my ambitions and listen more than I talk.

I don't need to know everything, as it is impossible to gain in-depth knowledge in every domain. There will be topics a colleague will be better at than me, and that's fine. I won't be a professional due to my knowledge of everything, but because of expertise in a few topics of my choice.

2. A Rockstar is up-to-date and knows the latest technologies

I feel uncomfortable when the lack of my knowledge is revealed in a topic I am familiar with. Yet, it is pointless to store information I will never use. It is worth to take a look at a few questions

• What problems can I solve with the new knowledge?

• What (practical) values do the new knowledge have?

• Will I use this skill/knowledge/ information in everyday life?

3. A Rockstar obsessively codes in his free time, attends meetups and contributes

I used to work at a multinational company for years. When I was not in the office, I attended meetups to extend my professional network, wrote blog posts, and ignored everything that was not about my profession.

Then I put the computer aside for a few weeks, and I felt relieved. It was when I decided to change my lifestyle.

Nowadays, I rarely go to meetups, instead I play the violin or do jiu-jitsu. I achieved to get fed up with work only once a year. It is when I take a break for 2-3 weeks, go hiking, be offline, and restore my resources. The pace is much slower, yet everything is more stable, and I don't think of moving on.

4. The Rockstar writes the Perfect Code

A memory that resonates with the above title was from my previous workplace when we had to work on a product development project. I was with a star developer on the same team. I was amazed by how he talked about coding. He spent time using proper names for the domain; he wanted to use the same business terminology for the functions the client uses. He examined the code thoroughly and attacked to names that were not informative. His philosophy was that the source code should describe itself, allowing us to read it as a book.

He was a true Rockstar, thus had lots of controversy with the others. Those who shared his philosophy and kept themselves to his norms had no problem developing a close working relationship with him. Others' work, however, was often criticised.

Of course, this led to conflicts that were not easy for him to deal with. 

I often met this type of mentality later in my life, which made me think that pursuing perfection in a team can cause more trouble than benefit. It might be worth unfolding more possible solutions rather than aiming for the perfect code. It also helps me accepting others' work. What we usually need are continually changing, good-quality results.

Over the past few years, the emphasis from the future slowly moved towards the present. Rockstars live in the future. I can find joy in everyday life, which I consider the privilege of a Rockstar on a tough day.

Related articles

1. Breaking the Myths of the Rockstar Developer, Salvador Molina, and Juan Olalla

2. The True Javascript Developer, Brenna O'Brien'Brien

3. Dark Matter Developers: The Unseen 99%, Scott Hanselman - vital part: "there is another kind of developer than the ones we meet all the time. We call them Dark Matter Developers. They don't read a lot of blogs, they never write blogs, they don't go to user groups, they don't tweet or Facebook, and you don't often see them at large conferences. Where are these dark matter developers online? [...] Where are the dark matter developers? Probably getting work done."

4. The passionate programmers, Chad Fowler

5. The gifts of imperfection, Brené Brown

Thanks for my colleagues Tímea Kristóf , Dávid Schuch, Vince Tikász, Viola Anikó for their contribution!