Advice for devs new and old: learn to distinguish between the helpful and the unhelpful.
your list may differ from mine:
your list may differ from mine:
unhelpful: stressing about the thousands of things you feel you have to learn.
helpful: learn just the tech that either truly interests you or that solves a painful problem you *currently* have.
gedd.ski/post/what-not-…
helpful: learn just the tech that either truly interests you or that solves a painful problem you *currently* have.
gedd.ski/post/what-not-…
unhelpful: tying your ego to a specific tech (which comes and goes).
helpful: love your tools while they serve you, let them go as soon as they don't.
helpful: love your tools while they serve you, let them go as soon as they don't.
unhelpful: arbitrary deadlines. The pressure and stress cause shortcuts and the turning of "invisible knobs of quality". Deadlines hurt you, your project and your users.
helpful: sustainable momentum. Prize anything that leads to it. Cut anything that detracts.
helpful: sustainable momentum. Prize anything that leads to it. Cut anything that detracts.
Sprints are arbitrary deadlines on a two week interval.
unhelpful: deciding something is unhelpful before experiencing it yourself.
helpful: take input from sources you trust but ultimately forming your own opinions.
helpful: take input from sources you trust but ultimately forming your own opinions.
unhelpful: lead measures (actions) that aren't actually tied to your desired lag measures (outcomes). e.g. % code coverage, # tickets closed, lines of code written etc
helpful: # of actions that actually get work done. e.g. # of focused pomodoros sessions
helpful: # of actions that actually get work done. e.g. # of focused pomodoros sessions
unhelpful: "cogitis": when individuals are considered cogs in a machine. All decisions (even unqualified technical ones) are made at the top.
helpful: leadership points to the desired "what" (outcome), then gets out of the way for their people to figure out the "how".
helpful: leadership points to the desired "what" (outcome), then gets out of the way for their people to figure out the "how".
unhelpful: bashing on tech that makes you feel dumb in an effort to feel better about not being good at it. e.g. CSS
helpful: take the time to master the fundamentals. Pay special attention to standards — you'll use them daily and they evolve slowly. High value ROI.
helpful: take the time to master the fundamentals. Pay special attention to standards — you'll use them daily and they evolve slowly. High value ROI.
unhelpful: a dozen concurrent side projects
helpful: ship one thing start to finish
helpful: ship one thing start to finish
unhelpful: comparing your skills to someone else's. Only jealousy or pride down that path (C.S. Lewis was right)
helpful: celebrate your own journey and progress. Use others you admire as inspiration to keep putting in the work.
helpful: celebrate your own journey and progress. Use others you admire as inspiration to keep putting in the work.
