a beautiful dance to watch...

A few years ago, a good friend and I signed up for ballroom dancing classes.  (Yeah, ballroom dancing).  She and I were the youngest people in the class by approximately 40 years. 

It was all for a new experience.  We were there to pickup on some of the dances like: the samba, the cha cha cha, the quickstep, and the tango (a personal favorite).

To be honest, we were able to get the basics down..but we never quite were able to dance like they did in the movie "True Lies"  (a true shame, i know).


I thought it would be an education that would stay with me for quite some time.  This was not the case.

Soon after the classes ended, I remember going to a wedding where ballroom dancing was encouraged.  However, I was with a different dance partner.  The education I received had no way of helping me/us.  6 weeks of classes didnt benefit us one bit.  I just didnt know it well enough to teach her.

This, in itself, taught a valuable lesson.  When the outcome of something is reliant on two or more people, there is little room for loss of educuation.  The end result of "the dance" or product will be wrong OR non-existent.

I feel there are only two solutions:

1)  Know it and study it so well, that you can teach others at the drop of a hat.  When your team or dance partner changes, you MUST be able to teach the next teammate or dance partner easily so there is little room for interruption.  If you don't know it like your dog's eating habits, you will never be able to teach it.  Otherwise  "The dance" / end goal / product will be out of sync. Ultimately, time is wasted.  

and/or

2)  Keep the same dance partner / team.  A team that constantly changes is difficult to stay in rhythm.  Find the right teammate and master the dance.  A team that learns together has the strongest synergy.


Now, you may have guessed it by now, but I am not just talking about dancing the samba at some wedding.  I am talking about any combination of two or more people that is determined to accomplish something.

 From what I have seen at GNW, you need both solutions in place for the dance to be movie-esque.  I see our top programmer teach others on how to program... or dance... like he does.  This in-turn, makes them all wicked programmers...which gets them to know it so well, that they can teach others....which causes synergy...which leads to success for the short term and ultimately the long term.

As part of the sales and marketing team, we just gotta keep the music playing...

Cause its a beautiful dance to watch.