Make Better Decisions

A simple presentation given at Boulder Ruby in October 2016 on how we make decisions and ways to train our instincts around technical problems.

Transcript

1. Make Better Decisions Marty Haught @mghaught Boulder Ruby Oct 2016
2. How do we make decisions?
3. Instinctive vs Rational
4. Instinctive • Fast, automatic • Subconscious • Prone to biases, fallacies • Can be trained • Quality depends on experiences, feedback, emotions, influence
5. Rational • Slow, logical • Requires reliable sources of information • Still affected by experiences, feedback, emotions, influence
6. Why is this important? • Can train ourselves to improve our instincts • Avoid repeating mistakes • Reliably able to make better decisions
7. Ultimate Goal • Trust • Independence • Consistency
8. Scenario • Choosing a solution to implement authorization
9. Rational Process • Define the problem • Identify the options • Qualify each option • Choose best option • Reflect on outcome
10. Define the problem • What is the issue? • Why does it need to be solved? • What is the goal? • What are the constraints? • Strive to be accurate and complete
11. Identify the options • Start a list of potential approaches/solutions • How many are necessary to consider? • Expand via research, networking, brainstorming • Consider unconventional ones such as doing nothing • Do not prematurely eliminate or skip options
12. Qualify each option • How likely will this meet our goals? • What risks are involved? • How much time, effort, or cost is involved? • Other qualitative aspects to consider?
13. Choose best option • Determine most important factor such as time, cost, people or process • Sort options after weighing pros and cons • Eliminate any show stoppers • Involve others if a clear choice doesn’t stand out
14. Reflect on outcome • Retrospective • How did it go? Any lessons learned? • Any ways to improve your process for next time?
15. Context matters • Know your tech stack + alternatives • Know your team • Know your client • Know the app’s business and market
16. Specific examples • How risk averse is your client and business? • What is the cost of a mistake? • What sort of benefit do you gain by moving faster? • Are their politics involved or other invisible forces to be considered?
17. Training our instincts
18. Dreyfus Model • Novice - follow the recipe! • Advanced Beginner - stay focused in one area! • Competent - ready to solve problems! • Proficient - can self-reflect! • Expert - work from intuition
19. Be observant • Pay attention to how things are done • Be inquisitive on how others solve problems • Understand what you are doing • Record your observations • Beware of cargo culting
20. Dev Journal • Religiously keep your notes on everything work-related • Use throughout the day, like a logbook • Each task should have an entry with its estimation • At least once a day, stop and reflect, recording your thoughts
21. Estimate • Break down task into smaller parts • Record each part with a time estimate • Track time as you work on your task • Compare estimated vs actual time • Reflect on why they were different
22. Practice, practice, practice • Seriously, you have to do it yourself • Don’t let others do things for you if you’re trying to learn
23. ‘Just right’ failure • Balance between ‘playing it safe’ and ‘pushing yourself too far’ • Experience is the best teacher (aka getting burned) • Too much confusion or being overwhelmed is a sign to pull back
24. Feedback is a gift • Practice accepting feedback gracefully • Listen to your team • Ask for feedback if your team doesn’t offer it