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by Jared Richardson.
Original Post: Learning, The Dreyfus Model, and Lazy Developers
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The web site was created after the launch of the book "Ship It!" and discusses issues from Continuous Integration to web hosting providers.
John Gookin wrote a short article adaptation of the Dreyfus brother's book that does a masterful job of pointing out a few deficiencies that are rampant in the software arena. John wasn't writing about software but the principals fit so perfectly that you might not realize it.
The most damning bit was about moving from Stage Four (Proficiency) to Stage Five (Expert).
Once you're proficient you can make a very good living for yourself. Solving tough problems is what you do and you're pretty good at it. You're probably better than most, but not as good as you could be. Over time you start to lose that edge.
I know many developers who've done well for themselves but then hit a plateau. At one point they were hungry... driven. But now they've leveled off and stopped improving. All they see is that the raises stopped coming through or the promotions have dropped off. The fun projects are going to other developers now... what gives? What happened and how can I fix it?
In other words, how do I stop the backwards slide and move forward to "Expert"? How can I get my career out of this stall?
From the article:
"The challenge for experts is to maintain their expertise through experience and proactive learning. Resting on their laurels is an easier alternative that erodes expertise."
To paraphrase... if you're depending on your day job to make you better... if you think whatever random work assignment comes your way will keep your mental blades as sharp as they can be... best of luck. You'll need it during your slow slide backwards.
You need experience and you might be okay in that category... you could broaden your experiences by seeking out new challenges. If you can't find them at work, consider getting involved in an open source project or do some contract work. Buy a recipes book or a quiz book and work through them.
And that leads into proactive learning. When's the last time you did something proactive? No, searching the internet to find an answer to a problem doesn't count. Neither does doing the work your manager asked you to do. To be proactive means you take a step forward. You must do something.
I encourage you take one concrete step this week to improve yourself. Grab a new book on a technology you don't know. Attend a local user's group to hear an interesting presentation. Attend a Bar Camp or a Code Camp.
Try one thing that you haven't done in the last six months. Step out of your comfort zone and move past "Good" and see if you can close in on "Great".
Drop me a line and let me know what steps you've taken. I'll post a follow-up entry with your ideas so others can try them as well.
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