Tag: care

Develop empathy

Dear new developer,

Right now you’re probably a bit frustrated and confused. You’re learning a lot of things and you don’t really understand everything. Sometimes things click and it all makes sense, other times you’re confused and staring at what feels like a brick wall. Perhaps you just want to make things work and they won’t.

Good.

I say that not because I’m a sadist or dislike you. I say that because I hope you’ll remember the frustration you are experiencing right now. I think that will make you a better developer.

Why?

Because that is the state of 99% of your users. Whether they are a business employee or a person trying to use your app for personal reasons. They are just trying to finish a task and get on with their life. The software you are writing is the tool they are using to do that.

  • They don’t care about elegance of code.
  • They don’t care how much you love to develop.
  • They don’t care if you are learning and growing.

They just want to finish their job, complete their task, do their thing.

And, honestly, the tools we provide are frustrating. They’re buggy. They’re slow. The fact that they are amazing compared to what we could create a few years ago and that they are better than the alternative is beside the point.

I don’t write this to cause despair, new developer. Progress is being made. But it’s made one person at a time. Each person has to act with empathy toward their frustrated users. Understand them. Care about them.

And if you can remember the frustration you are currently encountering, perhaps you’ll have just a bit more empathy toward your end user, who is just trying to use your work product to get something done.

Sincerely,

Dan

Work for a place where people care

Dear new developer,

Every company has its warts (aka issues, aka problems). I have never met anyone who worked for the perfect company.

So, go in with your eyes wide open and choose what warts your company has. You may be able to help fix some of them, but some will be permanent.

One wart to avoid: an indifferent team. One just punching the clock, trying to get through the day.

If a company is full of people who don’t care, then you’ll have trouble fixing any other issue. Customers will be an after thought. And work will drag. (Yes, places like this exist.)

That’s not to say that a place where people care will be unicorns and roses, but at least people will want to fix issues and serve customers well.

How can you tell from the outside if people don’t care? Ask questions like “how do you improve processes” or “what do customers love about what you do” or “what changes have you all struggled with over the past year” or “how do you keep up to speed on the newest technology”. If the answers to these indicate a lack of caring and empathy, then I’d shy away from that place of work. If you are already in it, make plans to leave.

Sincerely,

Dan

PS You also want to avoid people who don’t care.