Author: Tim Jacobsen
Let me first get this out of the way, I don’t think you shouldn’t think about what you might be doing in 5 years, you should. What I don’t think is beneficial, is expecting that to be exactly what you are doing 5 years from now. Too often we get fixated on a single technology and start to think it is the best tool for every situation. This is where the old saying of if you only have a hammer in your toolbox, everything looks like a nail.
What we should be doing instead of focusing too heavily on the technology we are using, we should be spending some of our energy reading up on new technologies and their capabilities. This way if something comes along we will have some idea as to what tools are available that may fit the need better than what we currently use. We can then investigate several of them in more detail, possibly make some POC’s, to better inform the decision to adopt a new tech or not at that time. We should never expect that the tech we use today is the same tech we will use in the future.
This is where the 5 year plan turns into myth. You can put down on paper anything you would like to be doing in that time, but the odds are it isn’t going to be exactly what you expected, and it could even differ wildly. That said, as people in the technology industry our main goal should be to ensure we are ready and willing to adapt to technologies as they emerge. If not, it’s only a matter of time until you’re skillset is outdated and of zero value. Something I am sure none of us want.
My 5 year plan? Evolve…
Author: Tim Jacobsen