This is not a new concept, but like most other pearls of wisdom, absolute truths and acts of common sense it seems to be completely forgotten far too often... (Skip to the bottom if you want the checklist and not the discourse).

Ever heard of the wood cutter sawing down trees with a really blunt saw?  He’s sawing away, taking all day to cut down the tree.  A passer by says to him “why don’t you sharpen your saw?   You’d cut the tree down in half the time”, to which he replies “no, I’m too busy, I don’t have time.”

This may (or may not) come as a shock to you, but it’s not just wood-cutters who have problems recognising this problem; it can happen to developers, architects and business people (etc) as well (no! really?).  Of course it may be just an excuse – perhaps it’s not that they have no time but that it’d push them out of their comfort zone.

Regardless of the reason, I’m sure you’ll agree its poor situation to be in or faced with. 

Jeff Atwood over at www.codinghorror.com posted an article on the argument for sharpening the saw, but from the perspective that (as a developer) taking time out to broaden your skills/knowledge is a ‘must’, and something you should be making time for.

You have to admit it can be an easy trap to fall into – you get so focused on dealing to an immediate issue that objectivity disappears, you no longer see other options that might help you.  Resist! 

How many times to people ignore their own advice?  Far too often.  Make a big mental note right now – “I will not wear blinkers.  I will not be afraid to ask for help – or a second opinion, or admitting I was wrong”.

So how do you help yourself or others when this happens?  Here’s a checklist:

• Be aware this can happen and actively look out for it (a lot of pedestrians killed by vehicles weren’t looking out  for traffic at the time).
• Motivation: if it’s someone else with the blunt saw – is it really the saw that’s blunt?  You won’t fix a problem if you haven’t identified it accurately.
• Focus: focusing on the saw and cutting down the tree you’re on is a very narrow focus – look at the wider picture, if you don’t you’re going to have the same problem, over and over…
• Support: ever heard of Agile or XP?  One of the key values is “courage”; basically the ability to go out of your comfort zone.  A foundation for this is being in a team that understands and supports these values.  If someone’s got a blunt saw – do they in a supportive team?  Maybe they aren’t – hence the blunt saw.  Get good support to the person with the blunt saw.
• Time, quality, scope: these are all linked – if you don’t have time can you get the scope reduced? (You don’t want to cut quality).