I had a mentor very early in my career who set the course for my future in Engineering.
This man was respected Engineer and Architect.
I was young, and slightly intimidated.
I had never had a mentor before.
I had no idea how this relationship was supposed to work.
I actually only met with him once as a specific “Mentoring meeting”
I clearly remember sitting in his office.
I remember the layout of his furniture and the wood grain on his table.
But I only remember one thing that he said to me.
He told me that I have a choice to make.
I could be tall and narrow, or short and wide.
Both paths would bring me success, but I had to choose early.
I could become a subject matter expert and know more than anyone else.
Be the guy that everyone goes to for that one thing.
Or I could be the jack of all trades.
Learn everything I can about everything I come in contact with.
I left the office thinking yeah, that’s a good point.
There are things that I am very good at.
I would love to be “The Master”
I would love to garner the respect that I see the subject matter experts get.
I knew specific people at IBM who were the best in the World, and everyone knew it.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that was not me.
Later that evening, I realized that was not who I am.
I am the person who needs to know the stack from top to bottom.
I have to see the big picture.
At that moment my entire future career unfolded before my eyes.
I would take all of the disciplines and bring them together.
That is where invention lives.
That is where solutions come from.
At that moment, an Architect was born.