Everyone has a Grandpa Jack

When my friend told me this story, I knew I’d need to share it with you.

It’s not where I expected to get a lesson applicable to developers, but it leaped out at me.

Delyn grew up attending large family gatherings “at the cabin.” The patriarch of these events was Grandpa Jack.

“George Burns minus the cigar busting your chops with humor” is how she describes him.

So go ahead and picture this guy:

One evening at the cabin when Delyn was young, she was assigned to wash the extended family dishes.

With a step stool at the base of the large farmhouse sink, she started her work. Sponge, soap, and water that was either way too cold or way too hot.

But she persevered through the entire stack of plates and cups from aunts and uncles and cousins.

As she stepped down from the stool, Grandpa Jack approached.

“You’re done?” he asked, but without a cigar in hand. “Those dishes aren’t washed.”

Soap streaked down the plates. There might have still been food on some of the silverware. Delyn had done a terrible job, but here’s the thing: she didn’t know how to wash dishes.

Admonished by Grandpa Jack, she returned to the step stool and began moving dishes from the drying rack back to the sink.

Then a second set of hands grabbed a stack of plates and took the spot next to Delyn.

That day at the cabin, Grandpa Jack taught Delyn how to wash dishes.

Now Delyn has grown kids of her own and dishes still fondly remind her of Grandpa Jack.

That’s the power of teaching and it doesn’t have to happen in a cabin or even a classroom.

Any interaction with developers is an opportunity to share technical knowledge.

In fact, that’s what they want you to do.

More education, less promotion. You could be the Grandpa Jack they remember for a lifetime.

Cigar optional.