Convincing people to use a better tech

Transcript

1. Rage against the “machine”
3. Expectations
4. • Talk by an ADD guy • Concentration is hard when tooling is bad • Better tooling makes people happier • Productivity is orthogonal to tooling
5. • Take it or leave it talk • Not positive at all • Tellin’ you what to do • If you don’t have that problem, it’s not for you • You’re not going to like what I say, because it’s hard to follow • Not an inspirational talk, go to TED for these • Subjective and arrogant • Full of body-builders quotes
7. Making a switch
8. What people usually think • (almost) never want to “downshift”, even for better • rarely want to learn new stuff
9. What people usually think • (almost) never want to “downshift”, even for better • rarely want to learn new stuff
10. If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.
11. Learning • I’ve read a book on that programming language • I’ve went through all Katas • I can’t find where to apply that
13. Learning (how it should be) • I’ve tried to solve the problem with the tool • I know how it works • I know why it’s better • I’m able to teach people about it • I’m willing to invest my time or sacrifice money-wise • I can apply what I’ve learned to what I have right now • Even without using the tool itself
14. Learning (how it should be) • I can apply what I’ve learned to what I have right now • Even without using the tool itself • WAT? • Message queues • Programming paradigms • New libraries • New approaches • Databases
15. Learning (how it should be) • Message queues • Just use in-memory queue, when it’s not enough, you know next steps already • Build for scale and distribution, don’t think you’ll re- architect everything spontaneously
16. Learning (how it should be) • Programming paradigms • Functional programming • Actors • Modularity
17. Learning (how it should be) • Databases • Do you really need it? • What can you do to your data model to use concepts from your favourite DB right now?
18. Learning (how it should be) ! 165cm guy doing slam dunk
21. Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential
22. What people usually think • (almost) never want to “downshift”, even for better • rarely want to learn new stuff
23. Downshifting • If you’re a senior guy, most likely you’ll never need to • Proper learning makes you better with your current tooling • I can’t find where to apply my knowledge
24. Summary • Learn properly, learn deeply • Investigate, understand underlying concepts • Find an open-source project • Start a pet project • Tell people about how awesome it is
25. Don’t be that guy
26. Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
27. Bullying people • Our database is crap • Or maybe your data model is? • We need a message queue, now • But our in our current architecture everything’s hardcoded • That language will solve everything • Except it won’t
28. Be gentle • Hey, check it out, isn’t that something we need? • Hey guys, I want to organise an internal workshop for you • Hey guys, I have a little prototype I made during my spare time • Hey guys, I’ve been playing with that framework, it suits our next project really well
29. Be positive • Criticism will only put people against you • Being a “smartass” won’t get you where you want • Let people come to your conclusion themselves • Empower you team • Let that “thought leadership” be your thing
31. Be extravert • People don’t believe I hate giving talks • Just as introverted as the other guy • Exhausted after every meetup • Exhausted even after 1-2h meetings
32. Don’t complain • Stick your pain in your butt • If you think being more open to people is hard, try bench press or long-distance running • It’s your life, and you want to make a leap • World is against you • Rage against the “machine”
33. Don’t be lazy • Sacrifice your time • Invest into your future • Buy books, read books • Get Safari Books Online subscription, read a couple books a month • Have a plan • Have an idea
35. But we won’t be able to hire anyone
37. Work with right people • Motivate your team • Get excited together • Don’t wage an internal war • Compromise on conflicts • Don’t wait for changes, make changes
38. Work with right people • If you can’t motivate them, it’s your problem • If you tried really hard and can’t change people, remove people • If you can’t remove them, work processes around them
39. Better tooling
40. What is even better? • Gets job done faster • Gets job done clearer • Easier to maintain • Makes team cooperate • Gets everyone involved
41. Open Source
42. Have an open source project • Makes you a better programmer • Lets you meet other people • Lets you learn about other people’s problems
43. Open source project • You probably won’t get 1K stars on github in a month • Not even in half a year • Not from the first try
44. Open source project • You DO have a problem that’s open-sourcable • You DO have time to develop it during work hours • You CAN make it happen in your working place ! Everything else is just a complaint