Making it Big in Software: Get the Job. Work the Org. Become Great

Chapter 18. The Big Leagues: From Big-Shot to Visionary

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

—Alan Kay

Every company has leaders; few have visionaries. I’m going to define a visionary as a person of internationally renowned expertise and innovation. In software parlance, we call them gurus. Getting to the level of world-recognized guru takes a fair bit of skill, discipline, and more than a healthy dose of dumb luck. Some visionaries become household names, such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Several people interviewed in this book are visionaries, and although they’re perhaps not household names, they have acquired major fame within the industry for both their brilliance and their contribution. James Gosling, Linus Torvalds, and ...