I’ve been missing for a while. Main reason is that I had several new members on our FAE team and new people take time to be prepared. It demand focus and it took a good portion on my “brain output”. Although it’s something I do with satisfaction, it takes out its fair share of phosphate. Another thing that has been taking a little time from me is to figure how to set a “self hosted, dual language webblog site”.
A Task.
But excuses aside, let me write a little about this “dual language website” endeavor. I’m not an IT guy. I’m an FPGA/Telecom/Digital Engineer (by heart), FAE (by heart) and team manager. So, to do such a thing I have to learn a few things.
Why would I do that?
First: Because I found that I have too many places to write on: about more philosophical and personal opinions on Facebook, about career and technology on Linkedin, twice, because I like to keep Portuguese and English…
Second: I like to do it. Well, someone might argue that I could hire some cloud service to that… But… Hey… Where would the fun be? I like to take a little time to spend over some technical stuff. So far, I had to learn Virtualization a little deeper, I had to bring some Linux know-how back and the caveats to have your own server.
That aswers why… But also raises a lot of questions. The most important is…
Is it valid?
I always put to question how much of value it has to do things on your own. Shouldn’t I be studying more about team management? Or about business? Or leadership? Maybe. Could I be studying these topics more than I use to? Probably. But… Hey… And the tech stuff I like?
Well, the answer came once again during the visit I did to a customer (I’ll one day tell the history how Arrow made my world bigger, in detail).
This particular Engineer seems to be on his seventies. That is right, on his seventies. Yes, 7 decades old. As a Designer, he should be working for more than 40 years. It was amazing how he could still talk about technology. Could still talk about new design ideas. On his own words:
I have to do something to keep my mind busy and sharp. If I don’t look for bugs on the designs, I’ll begin to look bugs on me and I’ll get sick. I figured it would be wiser to choose to not be sick.
The quality of the conversation was high. To be honest, the guy was a living proof for something I do believe: you can learn something new for as long as you live.
Keep Improving.
So, I ask those who read this to think a little about themselves, if they are learning new skills or at least, preserving a few ones. I’m asking if they are keeping it sharp. It is not that hard.
I know, there are studies that show that learning skill degrade with age. But I do believe (and I would like to see some study about this) how much of this loss is due to physical limitations and how much of it comes from the lack of motivation to learn something new.
Anyway, that was a very nice response to my question. So, maybe in a few months I’ll get my server up and running. Meanwhile, I’ll keep multi-posting. As a developer, I know it is not the best solution* I could use, but also as a Development Manager I know we have limitations…
*Sugestions are very welcome.
