The 2016 Summer Olympics wrapped up this past Sunday. Over the past two weeks, many of us have had the chance to watch athletes from all over the world compete, demonstrating their amazing abilities of strength, skill and dedication.
Many of us can only dream of accomplishing what these competitors are able to do.
While the Olympics may not be in our future, there is much we can learn from these amazing athletes.
Dedicated Practice
The athletes of the Olympic games can perform incredible feats with apparent ease because they have spent years, if not decades, practicing, learning, and constantly working to improve their abilities. They know that learning every aspect of their sport and working at it every day will allow them to become better and better.
The same can be said of software development. The best software developers I know don’t necessarily have a natural gift. They have built a practice of always learning and applying those learnings in their daily work. In this day and age, there is no excuse for not keeping up to date with the trends and technologies in the software industry. Whether it’s a blog, a book, an online course, or even something at a local college, find a way to keep improving. Take what you learn and find ways to apply it in your daily work.
In addition, learn to use your tools. Learn to touch type. You should know your development environment so well that you don’t have to think about it. You can concentrate on solving problems.
Learn From Failure
Olympic athletes go through many trials and tribulations to get to the Olympic games. They have seen their fair share of obstacles and defeats over the years. But at each barrier or loss, they learn, work and improve. They understand that things will not go as planned and they should prepare for such events.
During the 2008 games in Beijing, China, swimmer Michael Phelps demonstrated the value of preparing for failure. In the 200-meter butterfly, his goggles filled up with water. By the end of the race, he could not see a thing. In spite of this, he won the gold medal and also broke the world record at the same time!
How did he perform such a feat? He had done it before. His coach had made him swim with flooded goggles in more than one practice. He had practiced and prepared for failure. When it actually occurred, he was ready, counting his strokes so he knew where he was in the pool.
Every time your system crashes or fails, learn from those failure. Figure out ways to keep similar problems from showing up in your software again. Anticipate what might go wrong in your application and decide how it should respond. Add feature toggles to disable parts of your system, should a critical failure occur.
Remember, things will go wrong. Prepare for that eventuality, and things will be much less traumatic when they do.
Have Fun
In the most recent games in Rio, there’s an image from one of the men’s 200-meter dash preliminaries where the reigning champion, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, crosses the finish line, smiling at Andre De Grasse of Canada. These are two extremely dedicated athletes, who can focus and put in the work necessary to compete at this level. But they clearly were having fun that day.
Whether you’re training to compete at the world level in the Olympics, or writing software, everyone needs to have some fun. Even world-class athletes can’t be serious all the time. They need some time to relax, unwind and enjoy life along the way.
Whatever is happening right now, even if you’re in the middle of a production crisis, try to bring some joy and fun to the situation. At the end of your life, will you remember the specifics of a stressful project? Or will you remember the fun you had and the people you worked with?
Conclusion
The Olympics have come and gone for this year, but hopefully they have provided some inspiration. Learn the lessons they provide and try to apply them in your own life. Practice your craft, learn your tools, be ready for failure and adapt when it happens. Above all else, try to have some fun along the way.
Question: What did you learn from the Olympics?