Competence, compassion, and confidence

A talk for Wildhacks 2016 hackathon on building confidence, how compassion and competence play a role, imposter syndrome, and being a designer and a women in tech.

Transcript

1. Competence, Compassion,
   and
   
   Confidence
   Diana Mounter
   @broccolini
   

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2. I work on design
   systems at GitHub
   (CSS Architecture, UI patterns, style
   guide documentation etc.)
   

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3. I’m a designer
   I write code
   I’m a women (in tech)
   I’m an alien
   About me
   

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4. COMPETENCE
   COMPASSION
   CONFIDENCE
   

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5. LEVEL 1
   

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6. As a designer
   Hmmm which green…
   

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7. Prepare to be
   constantly
   wrong
   As a designer
   

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8. Everyone has
   an opinion
   As a designer
   

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9. Design is very
   accessible
   (lots of people have a friend or a cousin that
   build a website for $200)
   Everyone has an opinion
   

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10. This doesn’t
    look so hard
    FREE websites
    templates!
    Minimal
    Portfolio Menu theme
    Fashion
    site
    Notebook
    Hacker
    theme
    Many services to use (and for free)
    

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11. Most people can look
    at something and say
    if they like it or not
    Everyone has an opinion
    

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12. Design critique
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions
    Opinions Opinio
    

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13. Dinosaurs
    Humans
    Invent
    the wheel
    Roman
    Empire
    Land on
    the moon
    Product
    Design
    Computers
    (Not to scale)
    Sliced
    bread
    iPhone
    

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14. With all this against you
    How do you build
    your confidence &
    competence?
    

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15. Back yourself
    up with data
    How do you build your confidence & competence?
    

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16. But it’s so obvious!
    ?
    

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17. But it’s so obvious!
    ?
    200
    

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18. But it’s so obvious!
    ?
    200
    400
    

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19. But it’s so obvious!
    ?
    200
    400 500
    

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20. Always be
    researching &
    testing
    How do you build your confidence & competence?
    

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21. How does this same interaction work
    elsewhere?
    Prototype and iterate in design & code,
    see how it feels.
    Seek feedback & critique: your
    colleagues may have insights you don’t.
    Always be researching & testing
    

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22. Leverage the tried
    and tested methods
    that already exist
    How do you build your confidence & competence?
    

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23. The Boring
    Designer
    Cap Watkins
    blog.capwatkins.com/the-boring-designer
    

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24. Chooses
    obvious over
    clever
    The boring designer
    

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25. Doesn’t reinvent
    the wheel
    (until it needs to be)
    The boring designer
    

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26. Is practical with
    time &
    resources
    The boring designer
    

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27. Must
    Should
    Could
    Won’t
    Prioritize
    (MoSCoW)
    

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28. Strong opinions,
    weakly held.
    Paul Saffo
    saffo.com/02008/07/26/strong-opinions-weakly-held/
    

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29. Boring CSS
    Me
    In my drafts folder on Medium.com
    

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30. Obvious over clever CSS
    makes it easier for
    everyone to have
    confidence in what the
    CSS is doing
    Boring CSS
    

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31. “If I’m reading HTML,
    I want to know what
    the CSS is going to do.”
    
    Adam Morse
    CSS and Scalability
    

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32. LEVEL 2
    

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33. As a women in tech
    Washrooms >>
    

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34. I have to
    overcome
    stereotypes
    As a women in tech
    

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35. Bossy
    Over emotional
    Probably lowered the
    bar to hire a women
    Too sexually
    distracting
    Overreacts
    Probably wants
    kids soon
    Won’t be able to
    handle the pace
    Will have to
    mansplain everything
    

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36. I use a lot of
    energy with dual
    track thoughts
    As a women in tech
    

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37. You’re not
    confident
    enough
    You’re being
    too bossy
    
    

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39. And there are a lot
    more minorities
    that face difficulties
    

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40. Making online
    collaboration safer
    at GitHub
    Danielle Leong
    https://youtu.be/0CLYWi8wSyk
    

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41. Women are more likely
    to have their pull-
    requests merged if
    they hide their gender*
    *Study is not yet peer-reviewed
    California Polytechnic State University
    North Carolina State University
    

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42. “Everyone should be
    able to merge, no matter
    what the vehicle.”
    Danielle Leong
    https://youtu.be/0CLYWi8wSyk
    

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43. You be you.
    It’s a tricky balance, but remember
    

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44. LEVEL 3
    

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45. Imposter syndrome
    

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46. It must have just been
    luck I got this job.
    

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48. I’m not good enough to be here.
    

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49. Maybe if I act more like them…
    

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50. All that does is make
    it harder for other
    diverse people to be
    accepted
    Don’t be a chameleon
    

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51. And you might be
    hiding some of the
    best parts of yourself
    Don’t be a chameleon
    

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52. Find your squad
    

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53. New to the company,
    new to being remote,
    and then I started
    building a new team
    I still struggle with confidence sometimes
    

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54. CONFIDENCE
    INVADERS
    

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55. Right amount of
    confidence
    Intimidation
    Fear
    Assumptions
    Arrogance
    Ability
    Empathy
    Bias
    Worth
    

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56. I am already
    enough, before 

    I take action
    When you don’t feel confident, remember:
    

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57. Preparation is
    your friend
    When you don’t feel confident
    

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58. Make an agenda & share
    Rehearse
    Walk through your work & check it
    Make a list of talking points
    Set context
    Preparation is your friend
    

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59. Actively listen & observe
    Choose your battles
    Back up your opinions
    Remember to:
    

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60. I don’t know
    but I’ll find out.
    When you don’t have the answer, it’s okay to say:
    

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61. Give your best
    guess, follow up and
    check your answer.
    Or…
    

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62. LEVEL 4
    

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63. Feedback on how
    you work
    

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64. Feedback on
    your work
    There’s a difference between
    

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65. how you work
    and
    

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66. Bad bad bad
    bad bad bad!
    

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67. Bad bad bad
    bad bad bad!
    -1,000
    

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68. Good, fair,
    excellent,
    how to improve.
    

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69. 300
    500 600
    

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70. Is there repetition?
    If so, figure how you
    want to respond.
    Give yourself time to absorb, then ask yourself
    

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71. Don’t sweat the one-off
    feedback too much, just
    take it into consideration
    and be mindful of other
    occurrences
    If not,
    

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72. Reach out to other
    people you trust
    for their opinion
    If you feel concerned
    

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73. Remember to
    thank others
    Giving others feedback
    

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74. That was totally
    radcakes
    Aw shucks,
    thanks!
    

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75. Good feedback
    gives people a
    path forward
    Giving others feedback
    

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76. That’s wrong
    

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77. I think this would
    work better with…
    

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78. BONUS LEVEL
    

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79. Change is the
    only constant
    In the tech industry
    

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80. Try and enjoy it!
    

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81. Don’t forget to turn
    back around and help
    the next person in line.
    When you get to where you’re going
    

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82. When you get to where you’re going,
    Tim McGraw
    A country singer (I’m not really into country music)
    I just copied this quote from someone at ElaConf
    Don’t forget to turn
    back around and help
    the next person in line.
    

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83. Thank you.
    Diana Mounter
    @broccolini
    Thanks to Space Invaders and Loren Schmidt for design inspiration,
    and to the speakers at ElaConf 2016 for all their inspiring talks.
    

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