Read what BADA means.

What do I mean by absolutes?

When someone says you should NEVER do something or when someone says

you should ALWAYS do something. Some things make sense. If your mama

said you should never run with a sharp stick, she was probably right.

Of course if you don’t, you’ll never win the Great Sharp Stick Race!

So what would be an absolute? How about GOTO? I have said, “Never use GOTO. Never, Ever.” I’m probably right. If a developer handed me a piece of code and it had GOTO in it, that developer better

have a really good reason. It would take convincing that using GOTO is

a good idea. But the point is that I would be willing to hear the point

of view.

And that is the point of this entry. When you start

making absolute statements, you start closing your mind. After doing

something for a while, it’s natural to feel like you are pretty much

“in the know”.

You already KNOW how to do that, why would you

listen to another approach? You know your way works. You’ve probably

tested several different ways over the years and know which one is

easier to maintain or which one performs better. You researched it. You

implemented it. You’re probably right. Probably.

It’s even

harder when people start coming to you as “The Expert”. You’ve done

this before. You have the inside scoop. If you have several years of

experience, people shouldn’t argue and nitpick every suggestion or

decision you make. But if someone comes to you, regardless of their

experience level, you should keep an open mind. I have to admit that I

sometimes have trouble with this. It does require effort at times.

Read the rest of this post.