Preparing For Winter

Recently, I have begun to think of all the things I do for development, as preparing for winter. My rationale is simple.

I live in South Africa and, except for a few parts. the weather here is mild compared to Europe. Imagine the land four thousand years ago, wide open spaces, plentiful food, water, and little fear of freezing to death. The easy life. Can you imagine yourself in this place, working your behind off doing anything? In short, there is no necessity for exerting much effort except for fun and profit.

Contrast Europe. At least once a year, it gets so cold, that you can die unless you find some way to retain heat. No loin-cloths for these people, only the real deal will pass the muster. In this really cold period, food is hard to come by. In fact, if you did not think ahead, you are likely to perish. In summer, the trees are full, food is plentiful, water flows and life is good. Do you sit and enjoy what life has, or do you prepare for winter?

The clever ones get it over and done with as quickly as possible, and optimise the process to require the least amount of time, and energy, leaving the rest to enjoy what life offers. The stupid ones intend on doing all that but would rather do it tomorrow, maybe the next day, at least some time before it becomes necessary but then they usually end up spending more effort, taking more time and having a poorer result because of it (crunch time). The really stupid ones work hard all day, all week, never enjoy themselves but cannot seem to get it right and then have a miserable winter (they usually survive but don't really want to).

Preparing for winter is an analogy of things that we should do, but have better things that we want to do. Needs versus desires. What it comes down to is a simple question: Do you want to just survive this winter, or do you want to pass the time in comfort and have the means to enjoy it?

I have my own terminology for this. The people who do just what they think is enough to survive, are slackers. The people who work hard but don't make life easier for themselves, are gears. The people who plan and work smartly to make life easier for themselves (and generally for others), are farmers.

Preparing for winter, is a life decision whether for an individual, group, or organisation. It sets a vibe and like magnets, it has polarity; slackers and farmers don't mix, gears are neutral and can mix with either slackers or farmers. Just to make things more interesting, this is not an all or nothing type; most people are a mix of slacker, gear and farmer.

Preparing for winter and making the most of it is about effort, planning and the right tools for the job. All things that I hope to do right in my IT projects.