When I was younger, I had a lot of strong opinions.
- X is the best programming language
- Y is the best framework,
- and so on.
And, to me, it seemed like these opinions were profound and based on facts. In hindsight, I discovered a new thing, dove deep and got entrenched into a novel system or new feature. Something that seemed so out of the ordinary, almost magical, that it made me stan for something.
As I got older, I naturally collected more knowledge about all kinds of things (naturally as somebody with high curiosity does), and the next new thing has less novel features and ‘magic’ than the last, and I became more relaxed around it. That does not mean I am not amazed by new technology, or new concepts, but stanning is not something I do anymore. Or at least I hope so. Because as I get more senior (not only old, but also more experienced in my profession) I have to understand the full context of things, but I also have to rely and depend on others to contribute. So I have to stay open minded in discussions for opinions other than mine, but I also have to come to a conclusion and form an opinion I am advocating - not stanning - for.
This is a very long intro for me trying to say, you should have opinions about things and advocate for them, while still being open to be (proven) wrong and changing your opinion. In a professional setting, this should not embarrass you, as long as you can present your logic. In the best case, you work in a blameless environment. If a peer comes to me to present me various things without a clear opinion or recommendation, I try to steer them to form one. My thinking behind it is, if you invest a lot of time into researching something, I trust your opinion on that topic. Even if I sometimes have to help you form it.
I think we can all think of some very general software, and some opinionated software. Both have their places in the world. It’s good that we have very general software that can essentially tackle all sorts of problems. And it’s good we have more specialised software that feels magic doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, but impossible to use for anything else. It’s intended! (This is why so many people love RubyOnRails)
My point is that people should learn to have an opinion and voice it, but stay open for arguments and discussions. Not falling into stanning behaviour. Ask yourself, ‘what is it that the other side is seeing?’.