7 Differences Between Superstars and Others

I was recently having a performance review meeting with one of our excellent and upcoming young software developers. In talking with him, some ideas emerged as to what distinguishes a superstar employee (whom all leaders covet and hanker after), and others. Here are 7 differences that emerged during our discussion:

1. Design Before Acting: A superstar invariably spends time on planning and designing before embarking on the task. The others embark on the task with little time spent on designing and are invariably forced to redo the task or at the very least go back and clean up their work. One needs to understand that a thought experiment (quick and cheap) is not the same as an experiment (time consuming and often expensive.) When time is spent in designing or planning before actually acting, we are investing in a thought experiment and trying to get as many unknowns as possible out of the way. In my years managing software developers, I've invariably found that great developers fill their notebooks with flowcharts, diagrams and other pictorial representations of their thought processes.
   
2. Ask Many Questions To Users or Clients: I've found that great performers ask more questions than mediocre performers. They want to get as many unknowns out of the way as possible and realize that one way of doing this is to go back and question many of the basic assumptions. Here's an example: Let's say, a client asks for a new feature ... a mediocre performer would begin on the feature request or at best ask some details about the implementation. A superstar on the other hand would question the user as to why he needs that feature, whether the feature is a priority and whether there's a simpler way to attain the same business benefit.
3. Build Pipes To Avoid Carrying Buckets: Let's say you need to transport water from the lake to your home. One way is to carry buckets of water everyday to your home. The other way is to build a pipe to transport the water. Superstars think in terms of building pipes in most of what they do. It may mean setting up processes, or defining naming conventions, or investing in training or implementing automation tools.
   
4. Review Best Practices Before Implementing: Superstars also consume copious quantities of information. But not just any information. They consume focused information that helps them to design and plan their task better. They ask questions in discussion forums, they read up on white-papers, and they search around for mentors. Many a time, we tend not to know what we don't know. And top performers realize this at a deeper level and hence their desire to avoid working in a vacuum.
   
5. Build On Top of What is Already Available: When I worked at a large computer maker in 2000, one of the things I learned is the notion of NIH (Not Invented Here.) Departments would literally pursue their own expensive projects rather than adopt or build upon the efforts of people from other departments. Superstars on the other hand tend to stand on the shoulders of past giants. They tend to more freely adopt open-source software, purchase ready-built tools, learn from research papers or copy best practices.
   
6. Focus on Need and Not Requirements: One of the other major characteristics of top-performers is that they try to understand what the market (or clients or users) need rather than simply follow a requirements document. They try to understand where their efforts fit into the larger picture and sometimes try to redraw the larger picture (often attempting to simplify or unify the larger picture.)
7. Are Lazy: This is the big one. Superstars abhor too much work. They believe in balance and in renewal. They leave the office on time and avoid working on weekends. And they do this because they control the number of initiatives that they begin on (either by negotiating with their managers or by laying down clear boundaries.) Also, by following the steps mentioned above, they tend to avoid reworks and follow friction-free paths towards completion of their activities.
   

Can you think of any other ways in which superstars are different? If so, please let me know by sending me an email to vikram at ascendus.com.