Capability of a Developer

Sometimes in life you join a discussion expecting the least, but surprisingly enough profound wisdom can be found in the least expected places.

In a five minutes talk I heard a very wise man give a very good analysis of what is capability.

It translate to something like this:

Capability of a person is a combination of two elements

1. The "body", which dictates the true ability/talent of the person.
2. The "spirit", which dictates the will of the person.

Taken to our domain, a developer capability will be a combination of the his technical knowledge(talent) and his motivation (will). When I want to increase a developer capabilities, I can either try to help him increase his technical know how, or try to help him on his motivation side. For best effect I try them both.

Some coaches I have encountered are making the mistake to assume that will on its own is enough (did someone mentioned "The Secret"?). I'm sorry, but no matter how much I shall "will" it, I CANT write code with absolutely no bugs. Maybe its because they lack the capability to increase true ability in a person?

Posted in: Coaches,Random Thoughts,Self Improvment