This week I continued with chapter 2 of Apprenticeship Patterns once again. The pattern I read was Expose your Ignorance. The context this pattern gives is the people paying you to be a software developer are depending on you to know what you’re doing. The problem with this is your team members and manager need confidence that you can deliver but you are unfamiliar with some of the technologies.
The solution to this problem is to show the people depending on you that the learning process is part of delivering software and to let them see you grow. Software developers build strong relationships with clients and colleagues so telling the truth about being in the learning process instead of telling them that you know how to do something you don’t is important. Doing this will build your reputation on your ability to learn and not what you already know. Asking questions is a good way of exposing your ignorance. Those who do not take on the process of exposing ignorance become experts in one domain and develop a narrow focus that is important for the industry to have experts but it should not be the goal of an apprentice.
The action suggestion is to write a list of five things you don’t understand about your work. Put the list somewhere others can see it. Then get in the habit of refreshing this list as your work changes.
The reason I chose this pattern is that I am expecting to run into this situation when I get my first job as a software developer and will probably face this problem during my whole career because there will always be some new technology I do not understand. I found the solution given to make sense and it brought up some good ideas but the action plan I disagree with a bit. I think it is a good idea to list off things that need to be worked on but I don’t think it needs to go in a place others can see. As long as the list is refreshed frequently and the skills are being worked on I think it’s fine to keep it to yourself. Of course, the part about being honest with others about not understanding things and asking questions should still apply.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Ryan Klenk's Blog by Ryan Klenk and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.