# Clear the Way As software engineers, we're - quite rightly - directed towards building things, producing tangible assets. Sometimes though, there's impact in the intangible; clearing the way for others. Think of it like the zen story of the king and the boulder. One by one his people encountered the obstacle, some complained, others gave up. It wasn't until a lone peasant arrived with a solution - a lever to move the rock - that progress was made. Upon moving the boulder, he found a bag of gold and a note upon which was written the message: "The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition". This story can be interpreted as incentivising clearing the way in service of receiving a direct reward, unfortunately that isn't always the case, so we must consider that often, it's others around us that reap the rewards. But that's OK! In the software engineering world, the "boulder" can take many forms: - **Tooling & Bug Fixes:** Improving the process, if improvements apply to you they'll often apply to others. - **Knowledge Transfer:** Writing clear, concise documentation, designs and taking the time to mentor (and be mentored by) others. - **Refactoring & Code Quality:** Taking the time - where applicable - to produce quality libraries that can be re-used. By focusing on these less-tangible acts, we facilitate others and build a better development environment for ourselves and those around us. The true test, is the success of the team, not the individual.