Final Day at BIOVIA

Today is my last day at BIOVIA. It’s been nearly twelve years. I’m excited and afraid, prepared and uncertain, glad for something new and grateful for everything customary.

I’ve been really lucky here. I’ve had some great mentors and trainers. I’ve received the wonderful gift of leaders giving me opportunities and getting out of my way to work on them. I’ve travelled to cool places. I’ve made friends in far flung corners of the world. I’ve gone to the workstation of my users and learned first hand how my solutions succeed or fail. I’ve been given the great gift of failure, and the room to learn from it.

I’ve tried to give back in the face of this plethora of gifts. I’ve tried to always see myself as serving others, from my first day as an intern to my last day as a manager. I’ve tried to find and nurture the individual genius and passion in each person. I’ve tried to have everyone’s back, and be on everyone’s side. Sometimes I’ve succeeded. Many times I have fallen short of my expectations. I keep trying and failing and trying another way.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is that software is a people problem. It’s not a technical problem. It’s not a project management problem. It’s not about architecture, or technology, or cool buzzwords. It’s about bringing people together, with beleif and energy and community. In this way it is quite unexceptional. To butcher a quote from Patch Adams, “You help on a project, you win some, you lose some. You help people, you win every time. Guaranteed.”

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Now, at long last: something totally different.