A Real Measure Of Your Core Values And Principles

How a person behaves during the positive times and upswings in life is not a good indicator of that person’s values and principles. Find a person in a difficult time, a low point in their life – someone who has been working excessive hours in a highly stressful job; is having serious family issues or has lost a loved one; lost their job and doesn’t know how to make financial ends meet; etc etc. Look at the behavior, the attitude, and the outlook on life and situations that this person has. That’s where you’ll find the real measures of that person’s worth, and their values and principles.

Values and Principles In Software Development

If you’re a software developer who believes in the current Test Driven Development, Behavior Driven Development, SOLID principles, Domain Driven Design, yadda-yadda-yadda… what do you “fall back” into when times are tough and deadlines loom?  Do you allow entropy to set in and revert to old ways? Do you start to code-first and think about tests later? Do you follow the tried-and-true processes and methodologies of your team? Do you throw process out the door and kick it into cowboy coding? When push comes to shove, what principles do you follow and what do you truly value in your software development efforts? Learning curves and struggling with new processes aside, how you respond to pressure and deadlines in your development efforts is a sign of your actual values and principles.

So… when you are horrendously stressed out at your office and begin to lose your motivation, focus and drive – what habits do you fall into?