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The Rule of Threes
David Heath
Tuesday, 23 March 2010 12:08
Page 1 of 3
I've spent a long time, probably too long, in the computer industry. Through my various positions and after careful observation of my own and the actions of others, I've come to realise there are some special rules that relate to IT people and to how they interact with the world. I've decided to call this the rule of threes. Here's why...
The Three-Decade Rule: The IT industry is constantly evolving and changing, probably much more than any other engineering discipline. So, three decades represents the amount of time it takes for a body of IT knowledge to become truly ancient.
There is nothing we learned (from an IT perspective) 30 years ago that has any relevance today. Strangely, there was a brief aberration to this rule a few years ago. Y2K suddenly brought back to life the ability to write Cobol - previously considered to be a long-extinct skill!
The Three-Year Rule: In many ways, the three-year rule is related to the three-decade rule. Three years is the maximum time anyone should spend in the same IT position for the same employer. C'mon, if you aren't itching to move on to a new position either with the same employer or with a new company, you must be working for the government!
The Three-Month Rule: Having made the jump to a new employer, you have exactly three months to build your empire. During this time, everyone is tiptoeing around each other. Use this time wisely - build relationships, demand responsibilities, insist on new equipment and software.
Whatever "world" you manage to create during this period of grace is the world you will have to inhabit for the remainder of your time in that position (see the three-year rule).
The Three-Week Rule: This is the "what on earth have I done?" rule. It might be less, but typically it takes as long as three weeks to decide whether the new position you have just taken up was a good idea or a total mistake! In fact, I strongly suggest taking the full three weeks to make this decision - after all, early impressions of your new-found workmates on a Friday afternoon may not be a true reflection of their level of professionalism!
Next, we'll turn our attention to the tools of the trade.
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