Just read a fantastic post by Jeff Atwood about Talent versus Enthusiasm, and it certainly made me look over both recent events and past with a grin on my face.
I’ve worked with some incredibly talented people in my time who, for whatever reason, seem to have lost their spark. I’ve also worked with some fairly mediocre programmers who are so incredibly willing to learn, to advance, and to know as much as they can. I’d like to think that enthusiasm assists talent which in turn assists enthusiasm, and the whole thing becomes very self referential – unfortunately not everyone has that enthusiasm, or for some reason it’s hiding behind the sofa.
I’ve recently been tasked with finding a senior developer/team lead for an organisation, and I’ve been overwhelmed at the quality (or lack thereof) of CVs that have come through – spelling and grammatical errors, no sense of enthusiasm in the covering letters, and a clear indication that some of them hadn’t read the detail in the advert at all. Hopefully some of these people are indeed talented, because their enthusiasm hasn’t overwhelmed me.
I’m happy to sit on the enthusiastically talented fence, I suggest you try it – the perks are fantastic :)