Tool Master

Being able to write your toolchain with a Hex editor is cool and all, but it doesn’t add value at most companies.

Learning about the tools people use at work is as important as learning about the business itself. I suspect there is a good path as the “tool master.”

Modern art and programming tools are complex systems, and the typical user only touches a tiny fraction of their features. Picking a path of study that revolves around learning a tool instead. If you understand why every part exists, you know a lot about the tool’s craft.

Adding value shifts from helping the business to assisting the team. Teaching tricks to existing developers is as essential as merging new features.

The “Unix guru” is a tool master as the Lawyer is a language master.