I wasn’t always a software engineer…
Before I began developing software for a living, I used to be in chemical research & development as a biochemist. For some reason, I always found myself gravitating back towards software and informatics, so I eventually gave in and started a software company. But I’ve learned a lot of lessons during my time as a scientist.
When solving a difficult problem and you know 25% of the solution, you can figure out 70% through hard work, patience and trial-and-error. The last 5% may never come, and if it does, is rarely when you’re looking for it.
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
Just because you don’t know the answer right now, doesn’t mean that you can made headway and figure it out as you go. I’ve learned the most when I’ve tried things that haven’t worked, but figured out what went wrong and then tried again.
If you’re not continually learning and improving yourself, your working days are numbered.
“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” – Benjamin Franklin
Don’t be afraid of challenging yourself and learning new languages, technologies or skills. Each one of them expands your experience and perspective, and can give you an opportunity to take a look at the status quo. Unfortunately, self-motivated learners are in short supply but in constant demand because they can adapt to any situation.
If you want to succeed, you have to train for it.
“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird… So let’s look at the bird and see what it’s doing — that’s what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.” – Richard Feynman
Let’s face it… The likelihood that you’re going to “knock one out of the park” your first time up to bat is pretty low. Whether it’s business or baseball, the odds are against you. It takes grit, determination, exercising yourself both physically and mentally, and lots of disappointment as you fail again and again. But each day, train yourself a little more, a little harder, and each day you get a little stronger. It’s cumulative, and it takes a lot of time.
Give credit to those who came before you.
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” – Sir Isaac Newton
In science, recognition is incredibly important and one of the first lessons that you learn. When you’re making a presentation, writing an article, or doing your homework, you have to cite any sources of information that when into your work. This is partly because scientists are focusing on sharing knowledge, and in order for the community to work together, there has to be trust between researchers that their information will not be stolen by one-another.
Even more so, no inventions are made in complete isolation. They are incremental improvements based on our understanding of our world and everything that has come before. The iPhone wouldn’t exist without the much earlier inventions of silicon wafers, transistors, plastics, aluminum, and light. And the next wave of inventions will be no different.
Take advantage of the information and knowledge that we have, but show respect to the community that this knowledge came from. You probably will need more help from it in the future.