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Okay, so I think we'll probably get underway. Welcome to 'Rock Stars and Consultants: Who Needs 'Em?'
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I thought I'd start off just for the heck of it with dogs. You guys have seen enough cats, right?
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So, these are my dogs. That's them in the picture right there.
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Okay, my name is Lori Olson. My Twitter handle is @WindexLory.
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I keep a blog at windex.posters.com. It hasn't been updated for a while, but I plan to do more.
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I am a freelance developer, mostly doing Rails work these days, but I also speak at conferences.
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I have done various workshops. The first one was 'Ruby on Rails for Real.' It focused on teaching Rails to enterprise developers.
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Just last month, we developed a new workshop called 'Rails for iOS,' focused on the kinds of things that iOS developers might want.
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So, enough about me. Let's talk about consultants and rock stars.
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Who really needs them? Well, I think actually you do, and in fact, everyone does.
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There’s even a reality TV series starting this fall dealing with rock star developers.
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Personally, I think that's kind of sad, but the simple fact is that at one time or another, every shop is going to need to hire either that rockstar developer or a consultant.
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The real question I think is not really why we need these people, but rather why we continue to need them.
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And that's really the interesting part that I want to get into.
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Before we delve into that, let's talk a bit about what actually makes a rock star developer.
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Have any of you ever been called a rock star developer? Come on, put up your hands.
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How about other tags that have been applied to you that you might consider rockstar-level, like ninja?
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These rockstar developers, these ninjas, they know everything.
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It's not just that; they are self-motivated learners. They learn new things because they enjoy it.
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They've done it all before; they've seen everything and have been there, done that.
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They are super productive. Once you hire them, they will get it done fast.
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They will deliver those critical releases that your product needs and be out the door before you know it.
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We all need a superhero every now and then, don't we?
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Another aspect of the rockstar developer is that they have no fear—no technical fear. Their motto might be something like, 'The difficult we do immediately, the impossible might take a little longer.'
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Okay, so enough about rockstar developers. Let's talk about consultants.
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What is it that we hire consultants for? They come in a couple of different varieties.
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One of them is the expert. They know one thing really, really well and have deep knowledge of some critical piece of your infrastructure.
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Your technology staff might need that expertise for various issues.
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Sometimes, they know complex things—stuff that your team doesn't have time to do, like tuning databases or scaling an application to five million users.
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These are the problems your team might find a little too hard to tackle on their own, so you bring in the experts.
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Often, these experts are not just individuals. They might be part of a consultancy, which has additional advantages.
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They have a really deep knowledge pool because they can call on their colleagues.
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Individually they may not be experts in everything, but collectively, a consultancy can be expert in absolutely everything.
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That's what groups like ThoughtWorks or Pivotal work to achieve—they come along and help you out.
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Now that we know what rockstar developers and consultancies look like, why would we not want to hire them?
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Why would we want to dispense with them after a while? There are some downsides to hiring rockstar developers and consultants.
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Let's start with the rockstar developers. One of the risks is that they are learners.
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If there’s nothing new for them to learn anymore, they get bored.
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When the next new exciting opportunity comes along, they may run away.
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Or worse, they may not run; they may simply wait until they burn out.
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One common issue with your rockstar developers is burnout.
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They often try to do everything, work insane hours, and ultimately burn out.
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I don't know how many of you know Ezra, but last year, this was one of his tweets: he almost died because he was suffering from extreme levels of burnout.
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So, you definitely don't want to put your rockstar at risk.
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Another problem with rockstar developers is what I like to refer to as the illusion of the big paycheck.
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If you hire a rock star and promise to pay them a gazillion dollars with big stock options, they may leave if you fail to deliver promptly.
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They'll chase after the next opportunity that promises a big payoff.
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Or, if you do deliver that big payoff, they might decide it's time to leave.
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This scenario can be a lose-lose situation for the companies hiring them.
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One of the other risks, which everyone jokes about, is the possibility of losing that vital key person.
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What if that person you hired gets hit by a bus? That would be a bad situation.
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All of a sudden, they are gone, and no one else is equipped to handle their responsibilities.
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Another concern with rockstar developers is that they can sometimes have a demanding personality.
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The official definition of a diva is someone who behaves in a demanding and often temperamental manner, revealing an inflated view of themselves and their importance.
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Have you ever encountered anybody like that?
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Last but not least, a rock star developer who knows their worth typically doesn’t come cheap.
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Consultants, on the other hand, are usually wildly expensive.
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They often lack buy-in for your company—they won't know about your business operations or care about your long-term plans.
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They are there for their contract, and that’s it.
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Another problem with consultancies is the old bait and switch: you hire them for their expertise, and while they may have it, they may send their B-Team to you because other experts are busy.
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That kind of fallback is not very reassuring, is it?
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Culture clash is also an issue, often seen as an impedance mismatch between consultants and your team.
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The way they look at problems and solutions can be significantly different from your team’s approach.
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These communication problems can be quite difficult to manage.
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You may also find that your consultants aren't completely focused.
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It's entirely possible that they are managing two, three, or four other jobs simultaneously, which is fairly standard for consultants.
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If they are completely focused on your project, you could also face challenges.
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Most taxation agencies will scrutinize your company closely if you hire consultants only.
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They may start calling that a personal services contract, leading to audits.
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In that case, your consultant isn't really a consultant—they're effectively an employee, and you haven't been paying them or the government properly.
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The primary risk, however, comes from both rockstar developers and consultants.
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When a consultant's contract ends or when a rockstar gets a new opportunity, they often take all their knowledge and walk out the door.
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That knowledge is a significant company asset, and losing it can create substantial issues.
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Since I'm talking about some of these downsides, I guess I think everyone should consider their own teams before hiring out.
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I think companies and startups don't spend enough time thinking about growing their teams.
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It's essential to grow a team—not just by adding additional bodies, but by improving and leveling up your entire team.
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The first step towards leveling up your team is knowing your team.
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Most companies don't spend enough time getting to know the people who work for them.
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Are they single? Are they married? Are they workaholics who work all night? Do they have kids?
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What about pets? You all know I have dogs, right? Maybe they have aging parents, or maybe they have illnesses or disabilities.
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None of these factors should be discriminated against, as they are merely aspects of life.
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You need to know these things to slot people into the most effective roles and to understand some of their limitations.
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Another thing you need to know is your entire technology stack.
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How many different things does your team need to be familiar with?
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Let’s take, for example, your typical Rails application which can include various languages and technologies.
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Starting with development, we should consider the basics: Ruby, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, and so on.
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When it comes to Ruby, is it MRI, JRuby, or something else? Are you using old projects on 1.8 or newer versions like 1.9?
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Are you using Rails or Sinatra, or even moving forward into Backbone or Angular?
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What about testing frameworks? Are you using MiniTest, TestUnit, or RSpec?
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How are you executing client-side testing? Are you using Jasmine or browser testing tools?
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And what about your overall developer tool stack: your operating systems, editors, version control, debuggers, and monitoring tools?
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Okay, that was just development; we haven't even reached deployment yet.
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On the deployment side, you may be on a different operating system, say developing on a Mac while deploying on Linux.
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Setting up and configuring a production database can be vastly different from a development database.
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Are you deploying on Heroku, or do you have other constraints? If so, which Linux distribution are you using?
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Consider hardware requirements, the amount of memory you need, disk space, rate configuration, and firewall settings.
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All these details are critical parts of your technology stack.
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There's so much to stay on top of that even a rockstar may struggle.
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Over just a few years, it will be hard for anyone to maintain expertise across every component in your development stack.
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So now that I've explained how there are way too many things for people to keep updated, let’s talk about training.
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Investing time into training your team is critically important.
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Training is how you grow; it's not just about the money spent on courses or conferences.
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The time allocated for training is equally crucial, as people need time to absorb what they’ve learned.
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Without this time, half the value of training goes to waste because people won’t remember it.
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There are various types of training available. Remember, knowing your team allows you to tailor the training approach to their needs.
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Self-learning methods include web-based courses, screencasts, and books.
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More formal types of learning might involve courses or certifications.
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Conferences are also a fantastic learning experience.
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Instead of just sending one person to a course, consider rotating training opportunities among team members.
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It maximizes the value of that training investment.
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Anyone who takes training should be responsible for sharing that knowledge with the rest of their team.
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We can organize lunch-and-learn sessions or informal bar camps to share learned knowledge.
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Again, this comes back to knowing your team. Understand their circumstances and preferences for effective collaborative learning.
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You might find that married team members with families prefer lunch-and-learn while others may prefer after-hours events like bar camps.
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But a common concern arises—'What if I invest all that money into training and they leave?'
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Simple math shows that replacing a dissatisfied developer costs companies more than it would to keep them happy.
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Not just in terms of hiring fees, but also considering the loss of knowledge and time investment in training.
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Companies must strive to keep their people content. Investing in training is essential.
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If employees feel valued and see their companies investing in them, they are more likely to stay.
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When employees feel this way, they consider themselves more than just a replaceable cog in the machine.
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This engagement leads to increased productivity and improved morale across the board.
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One effective way to enhance ownership and accountability among team members is by delegating responsibilities among them.
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Rock stars shouldn't carry the weight of everything; responsibilities should be distributed.
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Designate a primary and a secondary person for each key system within your tech stack.
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It's vital to have backup support in case a primary person is unavailable due to vacation, illness, or other reasons.
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This way, you're not solely reliant on one person for critical operations.
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Additionally, it's important to create a sense of participation among your developers.
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Most developers tend to be introverted and resist stepping into the spotlight.
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It’s not enough for someone to just say, 'I'm the primary.' They need to engage actively.
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There are countless resources available online regarding technology updates and communities to participate in.
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Encourage your team to subscribe to mailing lists, read tech blogs, and participate in forums.
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Starting with lurking in communities can be a good way for them to learn.
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As confidence builds, they can transition from asking questions to helping others.
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This back-and-forth participation helps everyone stay updated on technologies.
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As a primary for a technology, you should proactively manage upgrades and updates.
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Provide time for evaluations and beta testing—this is crucial for understanding any potential impacts before release.
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Planning for these upgrades and engaging in community discussions can make all the difference.
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If the technology is open source, consider contributing—sharing your improvements back to the community.
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Given the nature of this conference, I think it’s a shame not to encourage contributing back.
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If you've acquired expertise, share that knowledge, and help others in the community.
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Recognize that becoming a primary expert requires effort and time, but the benefits are significant.
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Becoming a true expert means identifying bugs and fixes, which can contribute immensely to your team’s capabilities.
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Don't forget that training and investing in expertise takes time; it's a vital investment.
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This ties into maintaining a sustainable pace within your development team.
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Working extensive overtime isn't the right way to achieve success.
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Instead, work consistently every day, ensuring sustainability.
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Training and expertise development must be integrated into your sustainable pace.
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Lastly, it's important to ensure that your team does not remain stagnant.
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Create room for exploration and give them opportunities to experiment with new technologies.
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Rotation of responsibilities allows people to gain new experiences and keep enthusiasm high.
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If necessary, switch primary responsibilities, allowing developers the chance to dive into fun projects.
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The goal is to prevent developers from becoming weary of repetitive tasks.
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Enabling engagement across your team brings about motivation and job satisfaction.
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I hope I have started to shed light on what growing your team means.
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It means training your people, encouraging participation, and developing expertise.
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These elements form a kind of virtuous circle, contributing to a continuously improving development team.
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This approach helps to create a team that’s better than all the rock stars and consultants out there.
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And for Finnegan, it seems the time has come.
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Yes, that’s what I deal with every day at the end of the session.
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Okay, so that's it. There is my contact information.
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I have posted the slides already, and I'll tweet the link in a moment. But do we have any questions?
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No? Okay, we're done.
