Why does opportunity matter? It gives folks a chance to learn, a chance to grow. It can feel frustrating for engineers who want to grow, but they are not given any opportunities. On the complete opposite side, for folks who are content and are just looking to coast, content with their current day-to-day responsibilities, a lack of opportunities is less of a problem but still important.
These two different archetypes are what I have come to know as missionaries and mercenaries. While a healthy balance of the two archetypes happily coexist in a team, opportunities help drive team initiatives forward and support growth for both individuals and teams.
Opportunities big and small
Opportunities are big, small, and are impactful to any person’s growth. A simple opportunity to facilitate & lead a meeting may be a new experience for someone on the team or it may be something someone has prior experience with in previous jobs but is given a chance to do so in their new role. Larger opportunities are typically tied to a company’s willingness to be innovative, but if anyone were given a chance to build something new I think it provides a good opportunity to innovate, learn, maybe mentor, but typically grow.
Continuous learning and development
In an ever advancing technology world, in order to stay competitive, successful engineers are constantly upleveling themselves. In an ideal world, engineers will be learning on the job. Things like being exposed to a new architecture, being able to design a new system, or being able to lead a project are all things that are just opportunities for continuous learning on the job. In the long run, individuals grow into subject matter experts and they are likely feeling more engaged.
There’s a quote I have seen passed around several times in a few social media posts that seems incredibly appropriate here that I will paraphrase.
Person 0: What happens if we train them and they leave?
Person 1: What happens if we don’t and they stay?
I bring this quote up not to just bring up the importance of training, but really just to reiterate the importance of investing in your employees. I was once told by a manager that the skills I learn will hopefully all be transferable skills whether I stay in my current role, transfer to a different team, or move on to a different company as a whole.
Engagement for missionaries
Let’s think about our missionary archetype for a bit. These are the folks that are driving forward their team’s goals whether they are small, but mighty steps or large, sweeping changes. These are the tiny refactors of code that keep things organised or the larger projects that help release a new feature for your company’s product. As you can tell, depending on their level, these missionaries are thriving well in their environment and the opportunities that are presented to them are aligning with their goals of personal growth. The engineers that are taking on these smaller tasks or larger tasks are the folks that understand that these opportunities exist to lead by example knowing that the bigger picture exists and we are all working toward the same goal.
Now in an extreme change, imagine that opportunities of any size became limited. These engineers could still possibly grow, but would be limited to how much they can grow; and once they reach that limit, these folks will typically find their path to growth by leaving to another team whether that is an internal transfer or leaving the company completely. Neither of these options are ideal for the team, but knowing these missionaries are typically the ambitious ones means that they are probably more gritty and will find their way regardless.
So what about the mercenaries then?
Mercenaries are more inclined to just go with the flow regardless of what kind of nonsense that is going on around them. Like I mentioned earlier, opportunities matter a bit less for these folks, but opportunities still help.
The opportunities that will probably be the most productive for mercenaries are the ones that are well-scoped and have a simple outcome from them. A one-to-one migration is something that is a good project to pick up for these folks. What’s great from this is that the criteria is straightforward and if there is any ambiguity, a missionary on the team would be a good candidate to help provide some clarity.
Some things to note
Mercenary or missionary, they are both perfectly fine ways to work. I was a mercenary, I was a missionary; and I think it all depends on what you want in your current situation in life. There is a good balance of the two and that is both at the personal level (a person being both a missionary and a mercenary) as well as at the team level (the two archetypes balanced and working together on a team).
Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-enjoying-seedlings-of-missionary-plant-6640442/