Saving developer relationships
by Karsten Wade
Our friend and mild-mannered iconoclast, Jef Spaleta, wrote a funny parody of how to salvage a developer relationship, based on the concept of the “frenemy” from this article. Two of my favorite points that Jef reworked:
2. Keep a support system. “Make sure you have, or that you cultivate, other developers who are consistently positive and loving so you can remind yourself that a software developer relationship doesn’t have to be a love-hate relationship,”
3. Focus on the good. “If you really want to keep the love-hate software developer relationship going, make sure you remind yourself of the traits about the other software developer that are loving and why you want to keep the software developer relationship going, dwelling on the positive rather than the negative.”
It is rocky, the nature of the open collaboration methodology that we rave about here at Developer Fu. About as rocky as any other open relationship. What is an open relationship? It is one that cannot sweep the dirt and dust of life under the rug without someone seeing it from below through the glass floor. Interpretation: even if you send it via private email or mumble it under your breath standing in line for lunch, odds are it is going to come into the light.
This is why honesty and integrity are cornerstones of the open collaboration methodology. Relationships are always going to have rocky ground to traverse; it is only with honesty and integrity that we can get to the other side with most of our body parts intact.