My friend tells me today:
“Szczepan, if I have a choice: to hack it in 5 minutes or to think hard about it for 3 hours… I hack”
I didn’t have to wonder too long what I would choose. Obviously it’s thinking about it for 3 hours.
Who is better developer then?
Neither.
You need both in your team. Smarter people wrote that hundred times before me but hear it again. It’s the variety of characters and opinions what sparks creativity. You might think about it next time you set up a team.
I think this is not only about different people. Actually I tend to start hacking for a bit as part of the thinking. After I hack 15 minutes, I know a lot more about the problem. Then I start thinking again for an hour or so. So hacking for me is like doing sketching out ideas. So both approaches are valuable, and it’s probably good to have a balance in the team…
Nice article. Thanks. :) Eugene
Rather than just thinking for hours, you can timebox it and spike out different solutions. If required, describe your problem in forums and continue with your solution even if it’s hacky and the best one you/team knows. In most cases, somebody will definitely reply to forum thread sharing experience and a better solution to the problem.
The key is to keep learning.