Let's stop making each other feel stupid - Agile Meets Architecture Oct '23

This talk was a keynote at Agile Meets Architecture in Berlin on Thurs Oct 5th, 2023.

Accompanying blog post: https://www.agile-meets-architecture.com/essays/lets-stop-making-each-other-feel-stupid

Stupidity Manifesto: https://insimpleterms.blog/the-stupidity-manifesto

Talk blurb:
We work in an industry where we have to prove how much we know. And yet, there are a million different paths through software development. On a day-to-day level we have to specialise on one task at a time. The skills we don’t need now are necessarily forgotten, or delegated to someone else. And that’s fine.

Instead of judging people for their ignorance, let’s help them to feel excited about all the new things they’ll discover. Instead of saying “How come you don’t know that?” let’s say “Fantastic! Lucky you. You get to learn something. What can I do to help?”

Transcript

1. NO EYES NEEDED @ClareSudbery
2. •Once upon a time… •Woman. Software engineer, background in maths. •Used to being in a minority. •Women can’t do maths. Reinforced by experience. •Came to IT late. •First job, intimidated: men doing IT since kids. •Second job, kept getting knocked back •Interview: more senior position. •Faced incredulity: Didn’t know enough. •After 12 years, redundancy - a relief. •DIDN’T WANT TO WORK IN I.T. ANY MORE.
3. @ClareSudbery https://media.giphy.com/media/ACVoiOEjbA6nC/giphy.gif
4. - In case you accidentally fell asleep when eyes closed… - Stand up - Sit down if you know everything about everything - Sit down if you never have to Google anything related to your sphere of expertise - WAS tempted to ask if you’ve ever laughed at anyone for not knowing stuff - But that would be me shaming you, I’m not here to do that - expecting a lot still on their feet - [pick up the pace – accelerate, barely give them time to think] - Sit down if you think you should know more than you do - Sit down if you worry people will find out you don’t know much about the latest hot topic - Sit down if you’ve ever considered switching roles or careers because you can’t keep up - OK, you can all sit down
5. Let’s Stop Making Each Other Feel Stupid @ClareSudbery
6. Imagine a world… @ClareSudbery
7. Making Each Other Feel Stupid How does it happen? @ClareSudbery
8. • Judging people • Talking in jargon • Not training juniors • Rock star developers • “Everyone knows more than me” • Hiding our ignorance • Believing seniors should know most @ClareSudbery
9. Talking negatively about others @ClareSudbery
10. Talking in jargon @ClareSudbery
11. Talking in jargon @ClareSudbery
12. Being reluctant to train juniors @ClareSudbery
13. The Lucky 10,000 @ClareSudbery
14. ROCK- STAR DEVS! @ClareSudbery
15. Assuming everyone else knows more than us @ClareSudbery
16. Ilianna: Terraform Kirsty: Hadoop Mircea: iOS Native Esra: SonarQube Georgia: Golang Rob: AWS Scott: AiOps Andy: Encryption Anik: PySpark Jon: CentOS 7 THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
17. Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native SonarQube Golang AWS AiOps PySpark Recursion THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
18. Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native SonarQube Golang AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
19. Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native Golang AWS AiOps 398373 Encryption PySpark THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
20. Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
21. CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
22. Hadoop iOS Native AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang Terraform THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
23. iOS Native AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang Terraform CentOS 7 THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
24. AWS AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
25. AiOps Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
26. Recursion Encryption PySpark SonarQube Golang Terraform CentOS 7 Hadoop iOS Native AWS THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
27. Terraform Data analytics Hadoop iOS Native SonarQube Golang AWS AiOps Encryption PySpark THE WHEEL OF CONFUSION @ClareSudbery
28. Assuming everyone else knows more than us @ClareSudbery
29. The range of knowledge in our industry is very wide @ClareSudbery
30. The range of knowledge in our industry is VERY WIDE @ClareSudbery
31. Hiding our own ignorance @ClareSudbery
32. Believing we should know more than everyone else @ClareSudbery
33. "The ability to learn together is the most important capability of the systems architect” Diana Montalion, today @ClareSudbery
34. My experience - the happy story @ClareSudbery
35. "Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity." - Aaron Swartz The Stupidity Manifesto @ClareSudbery
36. @ClareSudbery The Stupidity Manifesto LET’S STOP MAKING EACH OTHER FEEL STUPID. INSTEAD, LET’S… • ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO ASK QUESTIONS • Lead by example: Be honest when we’re confused • Value curiosity over knowledge • Prioritise clarity over jargon • Remember we all forget stuff • Get excited about teaching and learning • Acknowledge the broad range of knowledge in our industry, and avoid judging someone if their knowledge doesn’t match ours • LET’S STOP MAKING EACH OTHER FEEL STUPID. Sign the manifesto:
37. DIAL UP THE GOOD What can you do to make things even better? The most useful talks are those that result in action @ClareSudbery
38. Landing in a neat pair-synchronized way. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsY1qBeg5Qg @ClareSudbery
39. tinyurl.com/tech-better-pod • Jessica Kerr – Team learning • Emily Webber - Communities of practice • Charlene Hunter (Black history month) - Diversity and training • Craig Bass - How to build an academy • Dr J Harrison - Inclusive teams I hosted a podcast… @ClareSudbery
40. @ClareSudbery tinyurl.com/TBD-clare
41. Sudbery Software Engineering Ltd Helping teams improve their software delivery Delivering keynotes and workshops Email: Sudbery.software@gmail.com Events and info: tinyurl.com/csudbery Mastodon: mastodon.social/@ClareSudbery Twitter: @ClareSudbery LinkedIn: tinyurl.com/lin-csudbery Podcast: tinyurl.com/tech-better-pod
42. Sudbery Software Engineering Ltd Seriously - I’m available!
43. @ClareSudbery
44. 19:30 Panel @ClareSudbery
45. Questions / Discussion @ClareSudbery