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Justin
Justin

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The Small Things : A Fable

My take on:

http://thecodelesscode.com/case/1

The Small Stuff

For three days and for three nights, the Tech Lead had not been seen from outside of his cubicle. But the smell of his Chinese take-out could be.

On the fourth day the bravest of the junior devs, approached the Tech Lead's cube. With great caution he entered.

The junior dev found the Tech Lead at his a whiteboard. The whiteboard surface reflected a lifetime of bombardment of diagrams and flowcharts. A single dataflow diagram remained.

The junior dev recognized it as a minor component, of a vast system. A system that the department were placed in charge to maintain. The junior dev sheepishly asked what the Tech Lead was working on.

At that monument Tech Lead broke out of his trace. “There is a defect, and I am considering the best way to repair it.”

The junior dev said, “You often speak about the importance of setting priorities. How, then, can you obsess about something so tiny and unimportant?”

Without saying a word, the Tech Lead raised his chop sticks and grabbed the junior dev by the pinkie finger. With a lowering of his hand the junior dev went from a standing position to a setting position. In that moment, the novice was enlightened.

What did you think ?

Justin
https://twitter.com/CodeByJustin

Oldest comments (2)

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Jay Jeckel

I think your version changes the lesson. The lesson of the broken toe teaches that even small defects are important. In your version, the lesson feels more like small actions can have large results.

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Justin

Thanks for your feedback ! :D

Hmm I guess I'll have to fine tune it some more.