In the middle of it an aneurysm occurrs. Normally this is a very stressful, and often catastrophic, event, which ends up killing the patient. As blood filled the space where he was operating the surgeon knew he had to act quickly and calmly. Without hesitation he told the anaesthetist we need to kill the patient and then revive them later.
That takes guts and experience, not to mention trust in their team. The doctor knew that he had to stop the bleeding in order to save the patient, even if it meant temporarily stopping the patient’s heart. He also knew that the anaesthetist could most likely revive the patient once the procedure was complete.
It’s a gutsy move
What a gutsy move, and it saved the patients life. If the doctor hadn’t acted quickly, the outcome could have been very different.
Sometimes in order to fix something, you have to break it first.
The story clearly illustrates how a great developer does their job (minus the life hanging in the balance!). The ones I’ve worked with I’m proud to say have taught me a lot. They’re willing to shut down a system so that they can fix it. They trust that that system will return once they reboot it. They understand the system at a deep level so they can fix bugs. And they trust their well trained team to do their jobs in concert to give them the time to stitch up the gap.
This confidence I’m trying to find a good name for [Edit: I think it’s “clinical confidence”] is what comes with experience. A more junior engineer might have tried to keep working, even with the work area being flooded and unworkable, making the job 10 times harder. They might not know all their options yet.
We can all try to encourage this trust and build it in ourselves at work. Don’t be afraid to shut a system off or to break something temporarily in order to fix it and make it even better than it was before.
If we observe and recognise the signs of issues we can fix them. If you’re not a senior yet, make sure you have someone you can call someone senior in so you can fix the problem and learn along the way.
This trust takes time to learn because knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Wisdom comes from time and experience.
Communicating designs with senior developers is enriching when you address them with respect, and encourage their care of their users/patients and bring them in on how they can help make a difference. When you take the time to understand what they do (yes, it is like brain surgery!) they can feel the empathy and are therefore more willing to work with and teach you what they know.
Everyone wins.
Trust the connection
Great developers I know tend to have curiosity, bravery, intelligence, and a desire to help people by optimising systems. Working with great developers is a joy especially when you remember that often they are in the middle of working on a digital aneurysm and if they make time for you. That means you have a great relationship.
Trust this connection and you and your team can do great things.
