Things I Believe Now That I'm Old

Things I Believe

Now That I'm Old

@rosstuck

WebCamp 2014

“How old are you?”

29 -15

14

29

30

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Advice

Not dataNot facts

Not related resources

Advice

Dear Abby

Answers

Cheap to giveEasy to get

78~ years avg

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Distilled Experience

Optimize

Adviceabout advice

with advice I was given

Recursion

7 Steps

Step 1Consider the source

AbleUnable

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Unable

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Lead dev

Unable

AbleUnable

Helpful

Not helpful

Lead devJunior dev

Not about right or wrong

Weight

Good and Bad

“Listen to your elders.”

“Stop with this HTML stuff. Flash is the future.”

2000

Seemed legit.

Spoiler alert:Flash didn't make it

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Colleagues

Unable

I was an idiot.am

Consider the source

Broader View

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Unable

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Unable

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Unable

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Unable

Tinfoil hats aside

“Your money is safe with Goldman Sachs.”

Able

Helpful

Not helpful

Banks

Unable

“You should be...”

“You should be...*hic*...”

“You should be more of a shark.”

Step 2Consider the context

1 laptop bag2 suitcases

14 cardboard boxes

KidsHouseSpouse

Pet Mouse

Different situation

Everyday Example

“Just hack it up.”

Sometimes it's the right thing to do

Context is important

BDD is about gathering contextDesign Patterns often miss context

“Right tool for the right job.”

Which is better for chopping vegetables?

“Chainsaws are an antipattern.”

Context

Step 3Be open to advice

Answer

“You're never going to learn anything with your mouth open.”

Hard way

Humiliating story of my career

No idea.

Ummm...

It was a long time ago, ok?

“Read these books.”

I left the interview...

...with a reading list.

I did.

And I got better.

Hacker

Hacker > Engineer

Thanks.

Be open

“Do you know why this cup is useful? Because it is empty.”

-Bruce Lee

Step 4Use it

“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.”

-Erica Jong

Pardon the profanity

“Shit or get off the pot.”

“Don't be a chickenshit.”

IndecisionFear

“Will I regret not doing this in 48.5 years?”

Habit

“Everything comes with a price.”

Different kinds of prices

Moral

“You have to do what you think is right.”

Nathaniel Borenstein

destroyBaghdad();

destroyCity();

destroyCity('Baghdad');

Ethics

Dark Side

There's a price

Pay it

Don't pay it

Choose

“Say thank you.”

Step 5Meditate on it

Did it work as expected?

Would you do it again?

Did you get what you wanted?

Are you happy?

sydneypadua.com

Cognitive Dissonance

“I want the grapes”+ “I can't have the grapes”

Distress

Something's gotta give

“I want the grapes”+ “I can't have the grapes”

Distress

“Those grapes probably suck”+ “I can't have the grapes”

Distress

“Those grapes probably suck”+ “I can't have the grapes”

Bearable

Cognitive Dissonance

Lying to yourself

Remember where you started

Be honest with yourself

“Don't be too hard on yourself.”

Realistic expectation

Realistic expectation

SMART goals

SMART

SpecificMART

SpecificMeasurableART

SpecificMeasurableAttainableRT

SpecificMeasurableAttainableRelevantT

SpecificMeasurableAttainableRelevantTime-Bound

SMART

Continuous Improvement

“You can do better.”

“At what?”

“At life. Everything.”

“...That standard must be our standard. If you are going to be a builder, no other standard is worthwhile. That is what I expect of myself in my own buildings, and it is what I expect of my students.”

“Gradually, I show the students that they have a right to ask this of themselves, and must ask this of themselves.”

Honesty

Don't be discouraged

“Wow. That's amazing.”

Step 6Give it

“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Watch one. Do one. Teach one.”- Ancient Med School Proverb

Small things

Like this

“Use a stuffed animal.”

Advice is a meme

Memes evolve

Improve

“Be humble.”

You owe that.

“We must be very careful when we give advice to younger people:

sometimes they follow it!”- Edsger Dijkstra

Step 7Collect Advice

Environment

Code ReviewSprint Retrospective

360 FeedbackInternal Workshops

Safe

Ask

Ask a lot

DFQ

Continuous Improvement

You never know what you're going to need.

“You'll understand when you're older.”

It's true

Und

erst

andi

ng

Time

Stockpile the crap out of it.

55+ developers

The Motherlode

“Find a mentor.”

Epilogue

Art by Nat Alt | natalt.co.uk

Admit you were wrong.

Talk about talking better.

You can reach more people than you think.

Learn other ways to master your own way.

Just because it works doesn't mean it can't work better.

You can go big.

Design for how usersactually use.

Good design aids communication.

Always evolve.

Work together and separately.

Everything can be coded.

Redis is AWESOME.

Make your time count.

Meet New People

Advice comes from people

Learned

Lived

Paid For

Open Source

Things I Believe Now That I'm Old

Things I Believe Now That I'm Old(er)inPeople

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Thank You

Image Credits• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1281623• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1146398• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/480556• http://www.flickr.com/photos/seldaek/9647408557/sizes/h/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chartres_Cath%2BGare.JPG• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1124522• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/190426• http://www.flickr.com/photos/cappellmeister/5926625/sizes/o/• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1128251• http://www.flickr.com/photos/west_point/5557057223/sizes/l/• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Charlton_Heston_in_The_Ten_Commandments_film_trailer.jpg• http://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/2859826117/sizes/l/• http://www.iconarchive.com/show/looney-tunes-icons-by-sykonist/Marvin-Martian-icon.html• http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve/dp/B000NZW3KC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382383730&sr=8-1&k

eywords=three+wolf+moon+t-shirt• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/126380• http://www.amosphotography.com/data/photos/256_1greatwhitesharksmiling.jpg• http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_moments/5170055335/sizes/l/• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1166351• http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtrah/5005443977/sizes/o/• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/285330• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/134456• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1426482• http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbystevejohnson/4667347603/• http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/3775517/The-chainsaw-chef.html

Advice Appreciated

me@rosstuck.com

@rosstuck

Ross Tuck