This can be subjective, but there have been plenty of instances when cover versions of popular songs have been demonstrably better than the originals. Some that come to mind are Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah”, Sinead O’Connor singing “Nothing Compares 2 U”, and “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix.
What Joe Cocker turned the classic Beatles tune “With a Little Help from my Friends” into though was otherworldly. Even Paul McCartney said, “it was just mind blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem.” The original just sounds goofy in comparison.
There is this thinking pervasive in American culture of “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps”. Never mind that the literal interpretation of the expression is nonsense, it has been used mostly in conservative circles to praise the virtues of self-reliance.
This rugged individualism has certainly benefited the United States. The pioneering spirit that enabled immigrants to rise and succeed carries onward to today’s era in the rise of Silicon Valley. We celebrate the successes of intrepid founders like Stewart Butterfield and Mark Zuckerberg, Robert Metcalfe and Vinod Khosla, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, etc.
The back stories however are anything but the narrative of a single person chasing a singular vision. Last week I read how a 12 year old Steve Jobs cold called Bill Hewlett (the “H” in HP), for parts he wanted. Not only did Bill arrange to get him the parts, he also gave Jobs a summer job.
“I’ve never found anybody that didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help.”
-Steve Jobs
This is the real story of anyone that has ever achieved great success. Without Bill’s helping hand, Steve Jobs might have had a very different future and Apple might not have been born. This is not to say that Initiative and hard work is not required by the individual, but ultimately success is not the result of one person’s lone effort. It is the result of the people, resources, and environment that helps enable successful outcomes.
That is the power of teams and the culture of teamwork. In the past, organizations could get by with 10x engineers and a handful of wizard like sysadmins. As codebases become larger and more complex and production loads scale exponentially, relying on a group of code slinging lone wolves just doesn’t cut it anymore. Highly collaborative teams organized to optimize the ability to scale your systems is what enables the nimbleness to manage complexity with resilience.
The secret however behind the tech industry’s progress in recent decades is community. The power of community is a force multiplier for human potential. We have seen this with the rise of open source and the collaborative spirit of meetups and events that actively encourage sharing and exchanging of new ideas. DevOps, as one example, became a movement because two engineers freely shared their work speeding up deployments at Flickr. Community catalyzed and directed human initiative and ingenuity at scale.
One person with a vision does not get very far. One person with a vision supported with the people, resources and community can spawn the next great company, innovation, or global movement. The same is true of great engineering teams. With alignment to vision and a culture where people feel safe to openly share, the potential of these teams has no ceiling.
Normally my essays are longer. I definitely have more to say on this topic of community and how it drives innovation. A few things are coming up right now though that made me think to take this week’s post in a different direction. Instead I am asking for a little help from my friends, all of you reading this newsletter, to lend a hand for two very quick asks.
First, I have switched to using a completely different LinkedIn account. My previous one is an account that I have had since 2005 and over time I acquired way too many connections. The result was a lot of noise and interruption throughout the day. Therefore, if you feel I have been helpful to you, send me a connection request to my new LinkedIn account.
Second, I am moderating a talk on the topic “Effective Engineering Collaboration in the Age of Remote Working”. The event is being hosted by SGInnovate and Quod AI in conjunction with 500 Startups and August One. The event will kick off with a short talk on Asynchronous Collaboration strategies followed by the panel with engineering leaders from Grab, PayPal, ScratchPay, and Funding Societies.
The talk is on July 1st from 5:30pm — 6:30pm SGT. It would be great to have you join us, you can reserve your spot here.
Thanks again everyone for your support over the past three years since this newsletter started. What began as a simple way to share updates about Stack Overflow turned into many great conversations, making many new friends, and creating the foundation of a great community!
P.S. And a Happy International Women In Engineering Day to all!