Starters And Finishers
Amazing People Classified
Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working with many amazing people and very much still enjoy doing so every day. They inspire me, not only with their dexterity and creativity but also with their resolve to get something working or to finish it to a high standard.
Over the years I’ve also noticed that these amazing people often fall distinctly into one of two categories, namely that of either “starters” or “finishers”.
I’ve discovered it’s a mindset thing, not related to age or gender.
Each Completes The Other
Starters tend to be the kind of people who like a new challenge and easily get bored doing the same thing over and over, whereas finishers like to master something and then repeat their success.
Starters welcome and adjust easily to change, whereas finishers take a while to adjust to it. However, in the IT industry, neither starter nor finisher can be fully successful without the other. Both are equally necessary to get the job done.
It’s a bit like saying the starter “goes looking for and hooks the fish” and the finisher “lands it”.
These pairings and relationships often exist across lots of distinct roles in the development life cycle. For example, someone identifies what is required whilst someone else designs the solution, someone constructs a product whilst someone else proves it meets the requirements etc.
Distinct Learning Advantage
When it comes to learning something new, it seems to me that starters have a distinct advantage. They relish the opportunity and approach it with enthusiasm, sleeves rolled up and ready to jump in with both feet, itching to get hands-on.
Finishers tend to be much more cautious and reserved about learning something new, wondering just how big a challenge they are about to take on.
Different Expectations
Starters don’t expect to understand everything. Neither are they afraid of leaving “rough edges” or doing something in an imperfect way, they know that they haven’t been that way before and so can’t be expected to get everything totally right first time. In fact, they believe it’s never really been their job to get things totally right – that’s what finishers are for.
Finishers want to understand every nook and cranny and are looking for the exact detail, seeking perfection in what they do. They are frustrated by not yet fully understanding or knowing how to achieve a thing and by being temporarily forced to enter the hunting grounds of the starters. For them, things don’t always “just click” like it seems to for the starters.
Fish Out Of Water
Finishers soon become “fish out of water” when left to their own devices to learn something significant because unless the learning comes quickly and easily, finishers soon become overwhelmed by a lack of success and their seemingly poor understanding and productivity. They somehow think they should be “flying the helicopter solo by the end of the first lesson” which is never going to happen (aside from The Matrix)!
Different Approach Needed
It strikes me that finishers need a much more gradual approach to learning, almost in slow-motion compared to the starters, with lots of watching demonstrations, asking questions and hand-holding when it comes to learning by hands-on doing stuff.
You could also think of it this way: while the starters are putting on the harnesses and ready to do the bungee jump at the drop of a hat, the finishers are more than happy to just sit back, watch and ask questions afterwards. Starters and finishers really are poles apart!
Change Agents And Perfectionists
A finisher will always (albeit eventually) perfect a greater depth of knowledge and expertise in a given subject compared to a starter but it’s the starters that get the ball rolling – they are the agents that bring in change to the benefit of all. They give the perfectionists something to perfect, even if it sometimes means dragging them backwards through hedges to get there.
In today’s world of IT, no one can avoid change. It’s a given that change is inevitable and therefore unavoidable. Those organisations able to recognise and embrace change to gain competitive advantage will most likely be those able to balance the juxtaposition of their starters (change agents) and finishers (perfectionists) by enabling them to purse learning at their own pace and depth.
Are you ready to jump? Or just watch.
PS In truth, I’m a finisher. Hats off to the starters. No fear! 😊
Thank you for liking this page.
Tim Simpson
23rd August, 2019
#LifeAtCapgemini