Red Squirrel Reflections Dave Hoover explores the psychology of software development

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A More Interesting Problem to Solve
Monday, July 26, 2004

As I reached chapter 16 of The Fifth Discipline I did a double take when I saw the title of the chapter: "Ending the War between Work and Family." This "war" has impacted my life significantly since I started travelling 2-4 days/week, two months ago. It has been an incredible struggle to maintain the balance that allows me to be a successful husband and father, while simultaneously excelling in a technically strenuous workplace. I can count on one hand the number of days in which I have actually felt I acheived this balance.

The chapter was just what I needed to read. It talked about the blurring of the line between personal and professional life and the need for people to explicitly strive to integrate the two: "We live only one life, but for a long time our organizations have operated as if this simple fact could be ignored, as if we had two separate lives." (307)

This reminded me of RoleModel Software's vision statement.

One of the aspects of software development that I find to be very gratifying is the opportunity to solve some difficult, yet objectively "solvable" problems. This was a novel experience for me when I left the world of family therapy, where the problems were always much harder to pin down and "solve." I feel like I need to explicitly reframe this balancing act as a problem to solve, to strive to discover new and interesting ways to be successful as a husband, father, and consultant.

I'll sign off with my favorite quote from chapter 16. Bill O'Brien says:

"The more I understand the real skills of leadership in a learning organization, the more I become convinced that these are the skills of effective parenting."

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