Sean Wallbridge
It’s always struck me as kind of funny how so many of us in the IT world really don’t like to admit that there are techie types out there that are ever-so-much smarter than ourselves. Perhaps this is not isolated to the tech world but the tech world is where I live so it’s the one I know. Anyway, the point I want to make is that no one should be afraid of “the smart guys” (and girls, too, for that matter …) as we can always learn something from them. It is axiomatic in the tech world that as soon as you learn something/master something, that “something” is now old news and some other bright and shiny bit has come along to take is place so you have to do the learning all over again. So, if you are going to be constantly learning, why not attach yourself to a “smart” group of people who can really challenge you to learn and grow?
The really smart (hell, wicked smart) people that I have met in this business – Kevin Mah, Ryan Matthews, Sean Walbridge (to name but a few) – have always challenged me to “better my game”. And by doing so I have been able to keep up with them (well, sort of) at their whirlwind pace. This has resulted in my skills being pushed to levels that I would not have attained had I not had this lot beating on me to “learn something, anything!”. Yes, it has been frustrating on occasion as my brain simply doesn’t run at their speed but that’s probably true for most of us when dealing with the wickedly smart. But it’s ALWAYS immensely rewarding to push yourself to reach their level and find that you have accomplished some really big things.
So, go find some wicked smart techie and have them challenge you. Dive into the deep end and “learn something”. The smart guys will help you out, they really will and you’ll be truly amazed at what you can learn (although I STILL haven’t figured out the weird math formula that Kevin used to give you his home phone number; some things are just unfathomable for us mere mortals).