a new developer in my office is about to roll out his first project with our group. we delivered a preview to the core clients last week and it went very well. next his app goes into user testing and then into the wild world of production. yesterday i attempted to give him a pep talk to make sure he stays focused and diligent in these final hours of the project. this is what i said:
ok. you've passed the first test. everyone saw what you made and they were impressed. now you have to show them that it actually does what you say it's going to do. right now you're like travolta in saturday night fever. you've shown up at the club and you're leaning against the bar. you look great. you've got everyone's attention. now they're just waiting for you to get on the dance floor and see if you've got the moves to go with the look.
now for me, where i'm at, i'm more like travolta in pulp fiction. i'm sitting at a table with a beautiful girl and they just announced a dance contest. i look old and tired compared to my club days. people wonder if i still got any game in me. so i move to the floor and they see my moves are less exotic and more measured than they used to be but they see i can still move well enough to make people stop and look.
my closer friends will easily recognize the move of me starting out talking about someone else but finding a way to swing the attention back on me. i'm old and savvy enough to know this about myself and if it could work for travolta in pulp no reason it can't work for me in my small world.
