Never touch the keyboard
On the blog this week, I did some storytelling around a formative experience in my career - and a rollicking few months of cranking on a new product.
There are a lot more stories to come from that time, but for now I wanted to talk a bit about the period alluded to in the first paragraph of the blog - my time as a coding bootcamp instructor.
I did that job for two years, taking roughly 60 adult students through a 12-week program to prepare them to get their first software engineering job.
Many of them succeeded; some of them didn’t.
It was an intense time for my students and, as a consequence, an intense time for me.
I’ve long said it was the best job I’ve ever had, and as I write The Software Engineering Manager’s Toolkit (SEMT) I’m reminded of the experience constantly.
It gave me so many opportunities to help budding software engineers grow, and so many tries at various techniques to calm nerves, increase learning, and help folks succeed.
Or manage expectations for those who weren’t.
A lot of my writing comes from those two years and the lessons that have reinforced it since.
A few of the biggest lessons I carry with me:
Never touch the keyboard: It doesn’t help folks learn if you do the work for them - no matter how straightforward it is for you or how much faster the work would get done if you just did it.
We are all trapped in a box of our emotions: What stops us is not our lack of knowledge or a lack of skill, it’s ourselves. It’s fear and distraction and anger and hubris and guilt. When in doubt, try it and see what happens.
If people aren’t meeting your expectations, tell them: 12 weeks is not a lot of time and you don’t do anyone any favors by waiting and hoping things improve on their own. If something’s not going in the right direction, correct it in the moment.
As a coach or a manager, the greatest joy is when they outgrow you: Nothing else comes close. It’s why you do the job, no matter how hard it is.
Much more to come on this topic in next week’s public post.
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I’ve noticed lately that my biggest boosts of productivity - writing especially - have been when I’ve worked away from my home office.
So, last week I decided to turn some of my business revenue into a coworking situation.
I’ve worked in coworking places around Central Indiana in the past. Heck, my last full-time employer and my largest fractional client are working out of the same coworking location.
For me, I wanted somewhere fairly close to home, where I could go after dropping my son off at school or wander over when I wake up ungodly early with a brain on fire some Saturday morning.
I eventually found and settled on Refinery46, less than five miles from my house and built into a converted grocery store warehouse.
It’s primarily filled with home services business which is a nice change of pace after years of tech companies.
It also has a host of amenities to explore - including frequent member meetups and a podcast studio(!).
And, as it turns out, another of my fractional clients is also a member.
Small world.
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On a final note: How’s things?
I had lunch Friday with a friend I haven’t talked to in a long time and it reminded me of the importance of checking in with folks.
I’m genuinely curious about how things are going for you.
I hope they’re going great!
And if they’re not, let me know if you want to talk about it or if I can help in any way.
Happy Monday. And remember: However shitty today is, tomorrow will be great!
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