In our pursuit to become better professionals, it is common to get stuck in the multitude of choices in which to invest our time and energy. In the “My Job Went To India” book, Fowler describes how a mentor helped him by narrowing down the list of infinite choices to a set of just three, hence the “find a mentor” recommendation. As for myself, I have looked for mentors plenty of times, just to end up with lists of things to learn that were more biased than helpful. What struck me is the fact that most of these things were really important, and could improve my skills in some way (though some would require a mental leap to imagine how). What was then my objection to those recommendations?

Be honest: have you ever looked over your own code and felt like you had to redo it? One may think “I can do it so much better now”, but if the deadline is approaching and delivery is due, how many are capable of ignoring the urge to redo without loosing an arm and a leg? Let me rant about the subject.