By Rob 26 weeks ago
For today's blog entry, I thought I would relate an interesting experience we had in Europe to the business of creating software. In 2004 my wife Yoly, our daughter Brittany, and I all spent 6 months in Europe. You might remember that in 2004, security was very high due to the attacks on 9/11. Keep that in mind as you read this story.
On June 5th, 2004 we were staying on a family farm in the Black Forest, in Western Germany. We were pretty close to the border of France. As I'm watching our daughter milk cows (no thanks!) it occurs to me that June 5th means something. Puzzled, I drifted into other thoughts. Then it hits me. June 6th, 1944 was the invasion of Normandy! So I turn on the TV and the news is talking about the festivities they will be having in Normandy (western France) the next day to commemorate the 60th anniversary. By the time I figured all this out, it was 11pm. My first thought? Bad planning. We should have been staying in France tonight, not Germany. Then I grabbed out my map, and looked at the distance. It was 300 miles away.
Now at this point, any rational person would put the map down, grab a cold one, and forget about it. I wasn't that person on this night. So I call to Yoly and Brittany, and inform them that we are going on a road trip. The way I figured it, even if we didn't get a chance to see anything, being there would be neat.
Let me say something about software development, at this stage. Sometimes you have all the facts in front of you, but the solution just isn't clear. That doesn't mean you stop. Sometimes you just need to review the situation, and then go with the flow. The right solution will present itself, if you have patience and perseverance. Keep that thought in mind. Okay, back to the story.
As we get closer to Normandy, we noticed snipers and military people all over the place, especially on the overpasses. To say that security was tight would be an understatement. We asked the locals where the activities are going to be at, and they point us toward a building at the end of the road. We park, and went to ask a member of the French military stationed there what was going on. Bad news. Nothing happening. The entire area is in lock-down. I didn't drive 6 hours to see nothing. So we jump back in the car and start driving.
At this point, it is probably 7am on June 6th. We drove for around an hour, with our route mainly being determined by roadblocks setup throughout the area. Can't go left, so go right. As we are driving down this narrow road, we see a McDonald's. Yeah, they really are everywhere. Yoly quickly informs me that nature calls. She has to go, and so does Brittany.
Now I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little defeated at this point. It was a long drive, and I have been awake for a long time. And, we had a full itinerary the day before, so I was pretty much beat. So the break sounded good, and I turned right into the McDonald's.
Much to our surprise, the place was crawling with British Military. Our car was stopped by a young woman, who couldn't have been more than 19 or 20. We roll the window down and she asks us in this perfect British accent..."our your here for the celebration?" The first thing that went through my mind was "Isn't everyone here for the celebration?" Before Yoly could even open her mouth, I blurted "yes". In fairness, we really were there for the celebration. I wasn't lying. Really. So she asks, "Do you have your passes?" Game over, right? So I look at Yoly and Brittany, and say "I don't think so." She then replies..."You don't have your passes?"
Now this situation could have gone one of two or three directions, and most of them were not going to be pretty. Thinking on my feet, I confirm that we don't have passes. Then she summons her senior officer, and explains the situation to him. He then looks at us, and asks us the same questions. We then inform them both that we need to use the restroom. They tell us to move the car over to the McDonald's parking lot, which we did.
Well, that was a nice try. We almost made it inside somewhere. We pull the car over, get out and go into the McDonald's. We were there for maybe 5 minutes when another British Military chap comes over to us and says "the bus is leaving." And we did what any red-blooded Americans would have done. We got on the bus!
As we are getting on the bus, I lean over and tell Yoly and Brittany not to say anything. Because I know what they are thinking. Where is this bus going? That is the wrong question to ask. As we climb on the bus, it is packed with British veterans of WW2. The bus starts driving away from McDonald's and Yoly gives me this look. I knew what she was wondering. What are we doing? Where are we going? The bus ride lasted around 15 minutes, and then it came to a stop. Everyone started getting out.
The road was roped off, and we were all walking down the middle of it. People lined the sides, snapping pictures as we walked by. We must be in 1,000 photo albums. As we are walking slowly down the road (remember, these British veterans must be in there 80's), we could see a military war museum on the right, and a massive war cemetery on the left. The military police are directing us towards the left.
At this point, I am elated to be here. What a cool way to spend June 6th! Of course, we could be arrested and cause an international incident, but let's just continue with the story. As we walk through the cemetery, security got a lot tighter. Honestly, I was starting to get a little nervous. More than a few British Military gave us the once over, and we really did stick out. For starters, none of us had British uniforms on! Secondly, we weren't with anyone.
The logical thing to do at this stage is wait outside the cemetery, but I wasn't having any of that. So we work our way through the crowd, searching for a place to sit. And then it happens. Military planes fly overhead. Then two attack helicopters glide over the cemetery. And a few minutes later, a large helicopter with a British flag on it approaches. It lands, and several moments later our jaws drop in unison.
The Queen of England, The King of England, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown all get out of the helicopter, and they proceed to walk right past us. I'm talking 10 feet from us. Before we even have a chance to grasp the situation, another helicopter approaches. This one has a French flag. And then Jacques Chirac, the President of France, and his wife get out. And they walk right past us, too.
It was a really nice ceremony. It all lasted about 90 minutes. There was a mass, followed by several speakers. But it was hot, and the vets were dropping like flies. We really felt bad for them. Afterwards, we started walking back in the direction we came, and after 10 or 15 minutes the same bus we rode came driving up. We got in, went back to McDonald's, and had the most memorable day of our Europe trip!
We get back to Germany and have dinner with our new German friends, Peter and Vera. We tell them this story and they are flabbergasted. As Germans, their view was that this trip was doomed from the start, so they would have never even attempted it in the first place. But they could also appreciate the attitude we had to justgo for it, and that spirit was what they admired most about us Yanks.
Pretty incredible story, but how does this relate to software development? Our trip to Normandy was successful because we did the following:
- We put the effort out and gave ourselves a chance for success. We showed up.
- We didn't give up when the going was tough. We pushed forward against all odds.
- We adapted to the situation as it presented itself. We remained flexible.
- We had a lot of luck!
Software development is a lot like this, too. Many times I've been involved in projects that lacked a clear solution, at least initially. I just couldn't see it. Maybe the requirements were contradictory, or the constraints too limiting. But I kept trying to find that solution, knowing that a good solution would present itself if I just hung in there long enough. But sometimes I need to adapt to the situation. For example, a new piece of information about the project presents itself. Am I too stubborn to rethink the problem? If my mind is already made up, this wouldn't be possible. So you have to be flexible and avoid putting your mind in a box. And finally, sometimes you need a little luck. Maybe I'm stuck on a piece of the application, only to stumble across the perfect solution while surfing the web. You never know when and how lady luck is going to show up. But you make your own luck by all of the other factors. We wouldn't have been lucky unless we made the effort in the first place.
My point is this. Half the battle is showing up with an attitude that good things are going to happen today. This applies to just about everything in life, and it is definitely true when it comes to developing custom software. If you try hard enough, you can make great things happen!
Put yourself in a good position, and it might just happen to you.
BTW, I figure there might be a few skeptics out there, so here are a few picture that serve as evidence.
Here's the helicopters (seen upper left corner)
