On Management: The Mountains

As a follow-up to my post on The Developer’s Hierarchy of Needs and some of my Management Philosophy, it feels necessary to share some of the other perspective I’ve absorbed over the years.

In 2018, I spent a few days in Yosemite National Park painting watercolors with my friend and watercolor instructor, Frank Eber. As is often the case, I returned from the vacation with a better perspective:

The mountains in Yosemite have been there for millions of years. The mountains will be there for a million more. They will not remember the decisions we make today.

John Pile Jr, 2018

Returning to the office, I enjoyed using this cliché on perspective as a bit of humor to remind our team to keep the stress low and ensure we’re not putting too much focus on decisions that won’t matter in the big picture.

Since then, I’ve revised my quote slightly to help clarify:

In 5 years, the team won’t remember the decisions you are stressing about today, but they will remember how you made them feel.

Or alternatively, my friend and colleague Kara Miekina told me that it was a shorter time-frame version I had used that resonated the most with her:

If a decision doesn’t matter in 5 weeks, it is not worth stressing about it today.

I’ve since been corrected by my mother, that my clever phrase is actually a butchering of a more famous poet.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

That’s okay, I’m sure Maya Angelou would have been an excellent management coach.

So whether its 5 weeks or 5 years, taking a step back to get perspective is important whether you’re debating feature decisions with your team or painting watercolors in a National Park.