Seven deadly essentialisms of the technology industry

Essentialism is the belief that there are hidden ideals behind everything in reality. Plato had his geometry and Zoologists have their taxonomies. In the IT Industry there are essentialist models in use that have supporters and critics; they are sometimes useful, sometimes not. They are harmful if people narrow their focus to one kind of essentialism and lose the wider view, especially in the current industry's rate of change. Find more commentary in the original blog post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-escape-essentialist-you-avoid-career-deadend-steve-chambers?trk=pulse_spock-articles

1. Seven Deadly Essentialisms of the Technology Industry Steve Chambers Chief Sandwich Maker and Dish Washer-Upper Viewyonder, UK @stevie_chambers http:// viewyonder.com

2. The Dead Hand of Plato The belief that there is an ideal form for all the things we detect in the world. Plato’s Geometrics Zoological Taxonomies Racial Categorization 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 2

3. Essentialism in Technology I’m a developer I’m a Java developer I’m a Java developer with five years experience I’m a cloud native Java developer I’m a full stack cloud native developer I’m a back-end full-stack cloud native… Narrower, Deeper, Specialist, Flavour of the Week “Java is so 90s. Long live Javascript !” “ Scala is the new hotness!” Ad infinitum. 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 3

4. Change is speeding up 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 4

5. Essentialism can miss THE point Essentialism has been applied to living things and Ernst Mayr blamed this for humanity’s late discovery of evolution — as late as the nineteenth century. If, like Aristotle, you treat all flesh-and-blood rabbits as imperfect approximations to an ideal Platonic rabbit, it won’t occur to you that rabbits might have evolved from a non-rabbit ancestor, and might evolve into a non-rabbit descendant. 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 5

6. Essentialism as a productivity tool …but Beware premature optimization: it is the root of all evil! (Knuth) http:// gregmckeown.com /essentialism-the-disciplined-pursuit-of-less/ http://c2.com/ cgi / wiki?PrematureOptimization 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 6

7. The Good and Bad of Essentialism Good Simplifies complexity Helps humans communicate Solves problems Bad Hides reality Creates rival beliefs and gangs Creates problems 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 7

8. 1. DevOps Essentialism http:// itrevolution.com /the-three-ways-principles-underpinning- devops / 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 8

9. 2. Bi-Modal IT Essentialism http:// www.slideshare.net / abstartups /dia01-08-keynotealvaromellogartner 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 9

10. 3. Cloud Native Essentialism http:// www.slideshare.net /Pivotal/cloud-native-application-framework 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 10

11. 4. ITIL Essentialism https:// www.axelos.com /best-practice-solutions/ itil 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 11

12. 5. Cloud Essentialism https:// en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Cloud_computing 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 12

13. 6. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants http:// www.slideshare.net /sergioafernandez988/digital-natives-digital-immigrants-part-ii- miriamsergio 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 13

14. 7. Pioneers, Settlers and Town Planners http:// blog.gardeviance.org /2015/03/on-pioneers-settlers-town-planners- and.html 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 14

15. Are we missing the point (again)? 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 15

16. Jack of All Trades > Master of One Ask yourself: Do I have time to become a master (10,000 hours?) Will master skills be in demand after those 10,000 hours? Is it a dead-end? 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 16

17. 5 Ways to Escape Essentialism You are greater than the sum of your skills. Embrace new communities often, but carefully. Leave old communities, but stay in touch. Continuously learn and share. Continuously manage your network. 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 17

18. Thank you! 13 March 2016 Copyright © Viewyonder Ltd 2016 18