Be the JOAT

Be the JOAT

In American football and in sports in general we call certain players the GOAT. Greatest of all time. I am a follower of football (US), and quarterback Tom Brady is most often called the GOAT. The greatest quarterback of all time. I personally have a twist to that in I feel Peyton Manning is the best quarterback of all time, but Tom Brady is the GOAT.

Let me explain. I am a big fan of Peyton Manning.  Peyton was what I feel the best quarterback of all time. The position. Flawless execution of each down. He was the most complete field commander and could analyze an entire field of players in a few seconds, draw from the playbook, and make a play happen. His technique, impeccable. His competitive drive, nearly unmatchable. His use of teamwork, leadership, knowledge, off-the-field work, and technique, better than anyone ever who has played that position.

But he is not the GOAT.

Tom Brady is the GOAT in most football fans eyes. Love him or hate him he has the stats, the wins, the super bowl rings, the miracles in the last few minutes, the big plays, and the legacy of what a GOAT should have. He is still playing in his forties and is at top form and a worthy opponent to every team he plays. Whatever records Payton Manning does not have, Tom Brady has.

In our trades, work, careers, and teams that get stuff done are you a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady? The best in the trade or the GOAT because of your list of wins and a long list of accomplishments?  This is an interesting question in my mind. For my teams, I would take one of each although I know it is like combining matter and anti-mater, and soon my team would explode.

These two remarkable individuals are two out of hundreds or thousands of individuals who have played the position of quarterback to some level beyond high school. They excelled and rose to the top and take the positions of the highest honors because of what they do and what they have done.

Like many in the workforce, there are those players who simply do the best work, the most work, the most important things, with quality, completeness, reliability, and precision. These are the players leaders want on their team. The darlings of project managers, and the go-to individuals when it’s crunch time and a win is needed.

But I have another idea.

In my work and in the teams, I work with I find another worthy title to be crowned with.  You can be the best of all time in what you do. You can also be the greatest of all time in what you do, and your track record shows it.  But you can also be the JOAT. Jack of all trades. JOAT.

Be the JOAT.

In the USA there is an expression going like “Jack of all trades, master of none.”  What that means is someone who dabbles a bit on many things across many areas, but never becomes proficient enough to do anything reasonable with any of it. That is not what I am talking about. What I am getting at is a person who has taken the time to learn and perfect the areas of work around them to have strong enablement and knowledge in the trades around them to bring a more complete individual and team player to the table each day.  Jack of all trades and let’s strike the master of none.

My trade is as a software and data developer. I do not wear many badges like .Net, Java, RPG, or PHP on my sleeve like some. I am also deep into data and data development across multiple database platforms. I am not trying to brag or bolster my image, over 20 years that has become what I do. The software and data development world takes on many changes and locking oneself into a niche is the kiss of death in the long run. You go from growing and climbing to hanging on and waiting out retirement quickly.

So be the JOAT.

Early on in my career, I worked at manufacturing companies as a programmer. Because of the size of the companies and the platforms at the time, it often meant wearing many hats based on the needs of the day or the projects in the queue. I started in IT like many in technical support and began working in system administration as I grew in the trade. Over time I found that programming was my shining star to follow and that became my mantra forward.  Because of the many hats to wear I keep a hand on system administration and had to balance both roles often.

Later, I worked for a wonderful manager who brought in a project management methodology to get the teams organized, working together, managing time, and ultimately get stuff done with a plan.  Awesome. I found project management. The idea was to develop out the skills of a project manager into a developer to help enable them to understand the areas of a project, get good plans, develop requirements, and work to that plan. Impressive skills for a programmer with an open mind.

Why the JOAT?

The best way to bring this thought to a conclusive point is to quickly explore the aspect of this:

While learning the work that you do and becoming both excellent and versatile, you pay attention to the areas, skills, and necessity of the work happening around you to build excellence, knowledge, working strength, and abilities to eventually be equal in those areas.

While learning the methods to professionally manage my projects based on the training I was receiving from my manager at the time and then later on working with PMP project managers who were dedicated to their craft I began to see that if I pursue project management as a skill then I will be able to work better with project managers, understand how to work to the plans and conditions better, plan my own work as micro-projects to balance my schedule better, and eventually lead projects with both the mindset of a PM and a resource (developer). 

So, what are the trades around you?

Realizing that this blog entry will fall into those in development, project management, and leadership, this may speak louder to some than others. But the case for the JOAT remains the same.  Learn the trades around you so the first result is that you work the best with the other members in the teams, but also can pitch in and help and make the other folks look like winners every time. That is what Peyton Manning and Tom Brady did and for Tom, still do. You would never see Peyton Manning take a snap or run a wide receiver route, but he knew their position and what was involved, so he worked his role to make the other players excellent. Tom Brady has put more rings on fingers than anyone ever in the NFL. That is teamwork.

Being the JOAT.

One thing about being the JOAT is that resume writing along with creating a LinkedIn profile becomes difficult. What do you do? What is your role? How do you come across? There becomes no way to blurb what you bring to the table.

The JOAT improves everything, fixes things, enables the best in others, adapts to the technologies in place, gets up to speed quickly, and knows what is important and what is not. If you are a hiring manager, hire that JOAT.

The most important JOAT quality, the one that makes them a JOAT is the work they do, how they do it, what gets done, how the teams work, the humility and sincerity of the atmosphere they bring, and at the end of the day the results turned over to the organization or customer. This is how you know them.

Be the JOAT. But don’t tell everyone.  Just do it.