Application Development Blog Posts
Learn and share on deeper, cross technology development topics such as integration and connectivity, automation, cloud extensibility, developing at scale, and security.
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Former Member

December is almost over, and after what was an amazing year for me both with ABAPZombie and at SDN, I got myself thinking about the main reasons why some people still thinks that they don't need to learn new stuff and, supposely have all knowledge they need to stay on top of their areas. I've come up with an analysis, and would like to discuss it with you, because maybe it's not directly their fault...

The Legend of "Technical Gods"

Most people I know that works inside SAP Market as a consultant have already heard something about people that says they're "SAP Technical Gods" but doesn't know how to handle simple work assignments. Those guys are popularly known by the way they can sell and offer their jobs, in a way that it masks their lack of preparation to work with a particular technology.

If you haven't heard anything about them, just think in someone that gets inside your company and is said to be very good on the same technology you are working with. He starts by your side, and you realize he can't finish something VERY simple, or takes TOO MUCH TIME doing it. It will take a while until everybody (managers, team leaders, senior consultants, etc) realizes he's not that good, and fire him out of the team. Then he'll try to move to another company, hoping that it takes more time until someone get to know the facts. That's our guy.

I believe this kind of situation won't end any time soon, and probably will never cease to exist. Getting to know if someone is REALLY good at something is trully hard. I can use Certification 5 as an example: a whole community team dedicated in trying to find the best way to test people out and give them a solid recognition for their knowledge. Now imagine how hard it is for companies to hire people and identify wich of them are lying, and which are not. If we consider that some recruiters doesn't know anything about technology, it turns out to be even harder.

But what relation can these people have with someone who doesn't care about developing? Well, they´re affecting the levels some might use to describe a strong technical consultant.

Turning into an expert without doing much

Imagine a project with 2 developers. If one of them is the guy that lied and sold himself as an Senior consultant, the other one has strong chances to get into spolight and be praised by the rest of the team, just by getting the job done, without anything special. That can generate somekind of self-illusion, making him think that he knows much more than the average Senior consultant. He'll lose their desire to learn and develop - he already knows what he needs to have a great carreer, as everybody says he's really good.

I believe that most of you who are reading this would never get into this kind situation, but unfortunatelly I have close friends who thinks just as I described. Those people often ask me: "Why creating a blog and share you´re knowledge? You won´t get anything back from it". Sad, isn't it?

What can you do (or advice others to) in order to avoid this situation?

We are tired of hearing that we got to study and seek more knowledge in ANY carrer whe choose. That's a fact if you want to trully succed. I made a ABAP Blog and I share some thoughts here on SDN because these are things that keeps me motivated to learn. As I discover new technologies, new tips, tricks and techniques I realize that I'm very far away from knowing everything I want, and that's a good thing.

For people who have stopped in time and were affected by that "illusion", I'd say: be careful. Find ways to keep you mind active and motivated to learn. I'm not saying you should start doing a blog - that worked for me and many others, but maybe it won't work for you. Luckly there are tons of other ways to do it: forums, books, courses, social networks, lectures... Just do yourself a favor and keep going, until the very end.

Last but not least

This is obviously not an absolute rule, but it's something I've been dealing with for quite some time (and is bugging me, of course). There are plenty of people who do an amazing job keeping themselves and their teams motivated, and I believe this is mandatory on the road to success, not only on your carrer but in your whole life. I just hope this can help someone in their process of awakening.

Oh, and maybe the only way to get rid of those liars from market is trying to be better. It will be hard for them to get a new job, as they will really look amateurs, even trying hard not to. Well, someday we'll get there, I hope... 🙂

Thanks! I wish you all a very happy new year! See you next time!

16 Comments