The Agile Otter shares his developer habits
Observe yourself and be curious to improve
Tiny Bubbles was made famous by Don Ho. The Hawaiian crooner shared this song at every concert.
GeePaw Hill recommends coders take small steps. The Agile Otter, Tim Ottinger changes it to tiny steps.
Tiny Steps
Tim concurs with GeePaw. He wants us to work on tiny steps. Go small or go home!
Shrink down our developer ambitions. Fix one small thing at a time. Ensure it works. Then take another tiny step.
Self-observation
Take time throughout your day to observe your work. Is it easy? Maybe it is too challenging. Look for ways to change your approach.
Is it too complicated? Perhaps it is time to scrap your design. Start fresh.
Beware of the sunk cost fallacy. Just because you have put in a few hours doesn’t mean you can’t switch directions.
Curiosity
Curiosity is required for a development career. Tim said, “Taking a moment to figure out how something works, or a better way of doing it.” Question the process. Then look for improvements.
He added, “not settling for a super-shallow understanding of the stack.” Sure we can use something with cursory knowledge. Dig deeper to develop mastery.
Teaming
The idea that developers can work as an individual is largely a myth. Great software is built in teams. Tim reminds us we should be, “working in an ensemble.”
Additionally, the software is quite complex. So most systems are too much for one brain to hold and manipulate. Pair up and do your thing. Or get crazy and Mob.
Test-drive
Of course, with a nickname like “Agile Otter”, he is going to have an experimental mindset. Tim states we should be, “test-driving changes.” Look at the feedback and adjust.
So what do you want to kick the tires on? Create a small experiment. Collect some data. Repeat. Let the learning begin.
As you can tell I enjoy talking about developer habits. I am honored to have heard from many greats like Tim.
Ron Jeffries shared some similar advice to Tim’s. The small steps resonate with him as well. Perhaps this should be a clue to listen.
Jeff Langr reminded us to find time for our daily practice. Keep those skills fresh.
The Reverent Geek, David Neal asked us to bring patience to our day.
Arlo Belshee wants us to talk less and be curious.
Lastly, Tim Andersen prods us to work on our writing. Not code, but writing and communication.