Doers and parasites

Let's take a software development company. A big, well structured one, that works in the way Joel thinks it should. What do you really want to do ? produce, be a creator every day or support those that do the work with tangible results ?

I'm a doer all the way. A couple of days ago, I started renovating my apartment, the first step being changing it's old door. I was watching the guys that came to do the installation of the new one while they were drilling holes, adjusting the edges of the walls, the whole deal. And I could hardly stop myself from asking them if they need some help. I just wanted to feel the tools in my hands, to contribute to what was done, and, more then the any other reason, to get some of that type of skill. Luckily (or not) I didn't have some work clothes near by.

Yesterday, I've been to a printing center to get some material on old-fashion paper. I wanted part of it to be tied like a book. Again, I found myself wanting to do the work myself, to operate the machine that punctured the sheets of paper and then to tie them together. The main reason was, again, that I wanted to have that skill, but more like to know how it feels doing it right.

The list could go on, It happens with programming languages, sport abilities, any and type of manufacturing in general. And it's very strong.

The thing is that this desire is a very powerful driving force, especially when you manage it wisely.


People (especially programmers) tend to see management as "parasites". Win a lot of money out of nothing.

But it's just a different abstraction level. The results are not as tangible as a piece of code, but they have the same importance (don't remember where I read about this, but it seams very true to me now). And although not all "doers" can get into management, I'm thinking that all great managers should be "doers".

My point is: a parasite in one position will be a parasite in another too. And there's no free lunch, (except for the truly extraordinary talents) hard work (at one point or another) is a mandatory condition for success.

So what are you ? What do you want to be ?