Seven years ago I was starting in tech in Panama with a challenging role for my 7-years-ago self: I was the Administrator of Technological Resources at an institution dedicated to higher education professional training in Panama, part of what was then the world’s largest university network (Laureate).
The organization was undergoing a structural change, and I had the fortune to witness part of it, which was very enriching for developing professional experience.
My role at that time was to analyze hardware/software information and technical requirements to fit the client's needs, especially within the allocated budget.
Indeed, I had to negotiate with suppliers.
I was starting to familiarize myself with very financial terms—Forecast, General Ledger, EBITDA, the stock market, and many more.
Every decision I made had to positively impact that financial goal, so a miscalculation not only affected the final client but also directly impacted the budget execution and, in that vertical, many other business areas. So I learned something important that I apply to every development I do; I call this 'unfavorable planning'.
It is nothing more than planning my execution with the minimum time and resources available, so that I can mentally find creative ways to achieve the same with less, not just reduce to save.
Example: Instead of maintaining separate Adobe Creative Cloud license agreements for different cost centers, group them to get a better volume price and significant savings.
I transferred that thought to my new profession, because instead of focusing on having 10 days to complete the task, I focus on having 5 days. In this way I manage to split and tackle the most important tasks for the success of my execution, and then when I group them, I have the complete solution. It’s basically an assembly process where I create all the functionalities (functions) separately and then I assemble them. After a few days I have something functional and I do the second iteration, the third, the fourth, and in a short time the task is solved, which allows me to invest some time in creating a scalable structure to reduce maintenance costs of the product in the long term.
Programming is like finance: you should find creative ways to invest your time to achieve outcomes in the short, medium, and long term.
I am a software development expert, and that is what I do. You can contact me at my website: www.joseamaya.com
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