Are You Following the Golden Rule?

Well, are you? I'm often asking my sons that exact question. The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Pretty simple. No room for interpretation. I may have heard it growing up. I don't remember. The Golden Rule was core to the culture at (the company formerly known as) A.G. Edwards & Sons. Ben Edwards often referenced it in his monthly news letters as he visited branches. Mr. Edwards would inevitably digress to how the food tasted and how that branch was following the golden rule. But now I digress.

It occurred to me the other day that The Golden Rule should not just be about how you treat other people. But how you think about other people. To my sons (11 and 8 at this time) this applies to knowing without hesitation that there is no need to say, "Stephen, don't break it!" But as software developers, we should remind ourselves, "This crap code I'm looking at, well, I'm sure the person who wrote it had good intentions and isn't just an idiot." Because remember, the crap code you're looking at just might be your own.