This week I read the apprenticeship pattern “Be the Worst”. With this pattern essentially says that once you become one of the best on your team, and you aren’t learning as much, you should put yourself in an environment where you are the worst and you know almost nothing. By putting yourself in the situation where you are the “worst”, you are surrounded by engineers who are better than you and are in an environment where there is a lot more to learn.

What I found the most interesting about this pattern is the author’s willingness to leave what most would consider an ideal situation and put yourself in one where the odds are stacked against you. For most people, being the worst on a team isn’t the goal. Most people want to grow and reach that level of expertise where you are nicely paid, do your job comfortably, and are looked to others as a leader, this pattern suggests that this means the end of your growth. After really giving more thought to this pattern I realized that I agreed with the author, this is because applying this pattern makes you a lot more marketable. If you apply this pattern it will ultimately give you more expertise in more different domains making you much more marketable and increasing your job security.

I agree with almost everything about this pattern, but I am not sure if it is the safest way to go about this growth. The author referred to this as a “sink or swim” strategy so while it is true that it might be a very good way to learn and grow, for some the risk might not be worth the reward. It is still possible to grow even if you are the best, nothing is stopping you from learning more and continuing to the be the best where you currently are.

In conclusion, I think that this is a useful pattern but I don’t think it should be followed exactly as it is stated due to the high risk. What I have taken away (and will try to apply) is that I should try to put myself in situations that will promote growth.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by lphilippeau and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week I read the apprenticeship pattern “Be the Worst”. With this pattern essentially says that once you become one of the best on your team, and you aren’t learning as much, you should put yourself in an environment where you are the worst and you know almost nothing. By putting yourself in the situation where you are the “worst”, you are surrounded by engineers who are better than you and are in an environment where there is a lot more to learn.

What I found the most interesting about this pattern is the author’s willingness to leave what most would consider an ideal situation and put yourself in one where the odds are stacked against you. For most people, being the worst on a team isn’t the goal. Most people want to grow and reach that level of expertise where you are nicely paid, do your job comfortably, and are looked to others as a leader, this pattern suggests that this means the end of your growth. After really giving more thought to this pattern I realized that I agreed with the author, this is because applying this pattern makes you a lot more marketable. If you apply this pattern it will ultimately give you more expertise in more different domains making you much more marketable and increasing your job security.

I agree with almost everything about this pattern, but I am not sure if it is the safest way to go about this growth. The author referred to this as a “sink or swim” strategy so while it is true that it might be a very good way to learn and grow, for some the risk might not be worth the reward. It is still possible to grow even if you are the best, nothing is stopping you from learning more and continuing to the be the best where you currently are.

In conclusion, I think that this is a useful pattern but I don’t think it should be followed exactly as it is stated due to the high risk. What I have taken away (and will try to apply) is that I should try to put myself in situations that will promote growth.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by lphilippeau and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

As an apprentice or a developer, your career begins with you choosing one language and mastering it. This language will be the grounds at which your early development is going to be based on. It does not have to be big; everything begins with you taking a small step. The best way to learn a language is to work with an expert in it. This is because feedback for your work is very important apart from you having someone who will boost your morale in learning such a language. Your first language is not only the foundation of your career but the pivot at which you will learn other languages.

So far, this book has enlightened my taught very much and I am really happy for laying hands on such a materials. I totally agreed with every point made in the aspect of the book. I will say it is a wake-up call to me and for my colleague students who will want to excel in the programming industry. I deemed it very important to have one language mastered and any other language could be learnt afterward than trying to learn two or more languages at the same time; you will end up haven a shallow knowledge in all of them.

Also, haven someone as a mentor is as equally important as your choice of life. There have often been times that I went through tough time trying to do things myself and there were times I had thing very easy with the help of an expert even though I did not like his style of mentoring but after reading this portion of the book, I have now come to realized why he did what he did; he didn’t wanted me to be solely dependent on him to do my work. I used to study ahead of what I was assigned to do before our meetings in order not to appear before him looking stupid and some time he only ask questions which lead me to solving my own problem without him given me the solution. I can clearly differentiate my level of production on those days we worked together as compared to the time I worked on my own especially the time spent in solving a problem.

In conclusion, I will say this portion of the book has boost my morale of choosing and mastering one language before trying to learnt any other language and I am also reconnecting with the expert I have worked with in the past as a mentor for my career.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Computer Science Exploration by ioplay and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

A very important apprenticeship pattern to keep in mind is Draw Your Own Map.  The pattern discussing the importance of planning out the next steps that you need to take in your career.  It is important to talk to your bosses and others that have been in the field longer than you about the direction that you need to take to advance your career, but it is important to note that while you should listen to what they have to say and take it into consideration do not blindly heed their advice.  When you do this, you are no longer in control of where your career and to a degree where your life is headed.  You need to sort through all the advice you are given and decide if it is in your best interest to follow said advice. One thing that I have always believed in and kept in mind when following advice of others or handing out advice of my own is that it is very easy for someone else to tell you what you should do because they don’t have to wake up and deal with it tomorrow.  By this I mean that ultimately the path you choose and decisions you make will impact your day to day life, career, and happiness.  Most of the time while your advisor may care what happens and worry about if you will succeed they don’t have to feel the pressure of what happens or the negative or even positive consequences from that decision.  You need to remain in control of your own life and career.  The best way to do this is to draw an actual diagram of where you want your career to head and what you need to do to get from point a to point b.  Life isn’t that simple though and things change so it’s important to constantly examine the map to see if you are on the right track.  If not see what you need to do to get back on track, or maybe things changed and you want to take a new direction either from a new-found interest or responsibility change in your life and then it’s time to redraw your map to have a plan of your next steps.  No one else is going to do it for you or care as much about the success of your career as you.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Tim's Blog by nbhc24 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.