Unicorns, Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, and Rhinos

What do all these animals have in common?

Sure, they both have 4 feet. They eat vegetation.

One of them is endangered. One of them is celebrated. One is often overlooked. And one is mythical.

But how does all this apply to software development teams?

Rhinos are, fortunately, endangered in the software development world. They are short-sighted and ill-tempered. They are poorly adapted to changing environments. They can reach relatively high speeds but don't know when to stop. Riding one can be rather challenging, in the best of times. And they don't do very well in groups. Has anyone met a developer that resembles this? I know I certainly did early on in my career. As a dev manager, I'm not very interested in having rhinos on my team.

Thoroughbreds are sexy. They are fast! They look good and are built for the race. Jump on a thoroughbred and you're off! Until you've run a mile or so and run out of steam. They are, fundamentally, sprinters. As a developer, being a sprinter can be a good thing. As a development manager, a sprinter can help blaze a trail for the rest of the team but you have to ensure they get enough rest/reward and can move on to a new race (aka project) quickly to keep them from getting bored/antsy. I'm happy to have one or two of these on a team, depending on team size, but a staff full of them is a hassle. Fundamentally, they are not team-oriented, if if they are personable. No thoroughbred is happy pulling a plow, even for a day.

Unicorns are...well...so rare as to be mythical. In theory, a unicorn can do everything. Front-end, back-end, middle-tier, database voodoo. A unicorn has a Masters, at minimum, in CS. A unicorn is an expert at Python, Java, C#, TypeScript, React, Ruby, Golang, and 15 other languages as well as being a master of generative AI. A unicorn is also what most companies seek when looking for developers, especially senior developers.

I've never met a unicorn, in over 20 years in this industry. Maybe they do exist. I feel like I hear about them from time to time. But maybe, what everyone sees as a unicorn is, in actuality, just a regular horse who's been treated well, fed well, and is well-trained. Could the mythical unicorn be, in truth, something more like a Lipazzaner stallion?

Quarter horses are the equine version of a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife. Is it as fast as a thoroughbred? No. But it's faster than a rhino and much more personable. And a quarter horse is much easier to find than a unicorn. A quarter horse can run for a long time before needing rest. It is amenable and adaptable to many tasks. As a dev manager, the developer equivalent of a quarter horse is what I want to base my team on. These are the developers who will work with you to get things done. They will be the team players who will take on the grunt work to free up the rest of the team to go race or they will race ahead when asked to blaze the trail for the team.

Some may object to my comparing developers to ungulates. I hope nobody takes this post that seriously. But I do believe, as hiring managers, we should be rational in what we're looking for and what criteria we use to evaluate developers. Additionally, we should embrace the opportunity to grow our own "unicorns". With the right care and feeding, even a rhino can learn to dance.

This entry was inspired by this post on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christinegrudecki_the-gap-in-expectations-between-tech-job-activity-7158135573033984001-JZTb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop