I was looking forward to writing about an intriguing bug in the new FireFox Quantum browser. I was looking forward to depicting the obscure CSS syntax that it bungles, and I was looking forward to explaining just what I plan to do about that. Given the rash of workplace abuses in the news lately, I’m not going to write about technology this week. Instead I’m going to write about the best advice I’ve ever heard:
Be absolutely professional in everything you do.Larry Ullman
Larry Ullman is the biggest influence on my career as a programmer. I’ve devoured all of his books many times. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason I have a family is because of the words this man has written in many, many books. And from all of his sage wisdom, that right there is the pearl. This advice was originally in reference to something quaint, like code or clients or invoices. It still works for that stuff.
Honestly, I struggle with this advice every single day. I often re-read myself in tickets or emails and wish that I had found a way to be more patient, more thorough, more researched. But what I can’t fathom is a workplace where this struggle includes the desire to harm a coworker physically or mentally.
It’s been a while Larry, but there are many of us out here who still read your books and still take your advice. And many more who should.