Even though more than 20 years have passed, I still remember wondering what it would be like to finish university and start working. Up until that point, I had pretty much spent my whole life in school, with only a few, non-programming summer jobs thrown in. My expectations of what it would be like to work as a software developer were mostly correct, but there were a few surprises in the first few years, and here are the top five:
5. People Interaction
Programming seemed like quite a solitary job – a feature needs to be done, so you sit down at your computer and code it up. The truth is there is quite a lot of interaction with other people. […]4. Writing Matters
It helps a lot to be able to write clearly in order to get your points across. To some extent, coding and writing are quite similar. In both cases you need to express your ideas clearly and unambiguously in a structured way. […]3. Software is Never Done
[…] Sure, you create new functionality, but it always has to fit in to what is already there. Therefore, a large part of creating a new feature is understanding the existing code in order for the new feature to fit in. This is something we never practiced at school.2. Few Clever Algorithms
[…] it was pretty much only linked lists or simpler.1. Complexity from Aggregation
[…] The complexity of the system comes from the aggregation of many simple parts, not from any complex parts.
In a series of fascinating experiments, Melanie Rudd (Stanford University) and colleagues have shown that inspiring a feeling of awe in their subjects also made them feel that they had more time to do things, made them less materialistic and encouraged to think about volunteering their time to help others.
The really amazing thing was how easy it was to instil such a sense of awe: a TV commercial, a walk down memory lane, or a story about an awe-inspiring view.
Now, two things struck me […] Firstly, it seems to me that atheists have a great appetite for awe-inspiring stories - in particular, stories about great scientific and engineering feats. Could this in part be a facet of life that in other circumstances could be filled by religion?
Secondly, we know from other research that experiences give greater satisfaction than material possessions. And yet the pursuit of material possessions seem to be a major life goal for many people. Could this be due to our feeling of time depletion - and could that in turn be remedied by stoking up a sense of awe?
[T]here’s increasing evidence that reading for pleasure isn’t just another leisure pursuit, or merely a way of improving literacy skills and factual knowledge.
It might actually be good for our mental and physical health too.
Neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield says that reading helps to lengthen attention spans in children and improves their ability to think clearly.
‘Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end – a structure that encourages our brains to think in sequence, to link cause, effect and significance,’ she says.
‘It is essential to learn this skill as a small child, while the brain has more plasticity, which is why it’s so important for parents to read to their children.
According to John Stein, emeritus professor of neuroscience at Magdalen College, Oxford, reading is far from a passive activity. ‘Reading exercises the whole brain,’ he explains.
‘When we “get lost” in a good book, we’re doing more than simply following a story. Imagining what’s happening is as good at activating the brain as “doing” it.’
New MRI scanning techniques now enable science to prove this. In 2009, an American brain-imaging study showed that when we read and imagine the landscapes, sounds, smells and tastes described on the page, the various areas of the brain that are used to process these experiences in real life are activated, creating new neural pathways.
In 2009, researchers at the University of Sussex found that just six minutes of reading can reduce stress levels by more than two-thirds, more than listening to music or going out for a walk.
It is thought that the concentration required to read distracts the mind, easing muscle tension and slowing the heart rate.
Reading may be good for physical health too, preventing brain ageing and disease.
[A] hacker’s hacker talk about his recent realization that software engineering is actually a social science. Across 10 minutes, he covers many human aspects of developer mistakes, programming language design, static analysis, code reviews, developer training, and cost/benefit analyses.
Inspired by a recent post from Joel on what makes us happy I’ve set out to uncover the connection between our feeling of happiness and exercising regularly.
So, BDNF and endorphins are the reasons exercise makes us feel so good. The somewhat scary part is that they have a very similar and addictive behavior like morphine, heroine or nicotine. The only difference? Well, it’s actually good for us.
A recent study from Penn State university shed some light on the matter and the results are more than surprising. They found that to be more productive and happier on a given work day, it doesn’t matter so much, if you work-out regularly, if you haven’t worked out on that particular day […]
Now, that’s all nice to hear you might say, starting to exercise regularly or even daily is still easier written than done. At end of the day, there is quite a lot of focus required to help you get into the habit of exercising daily. The most important part to note first, is that exercise is a keystone habit according to Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business“. This means that daily exercise can pave the way not only for happiness, but also growth in all other areas of your life.
Sorry to say, a nap or two won’t make you smart or assure success. But doctors know that a good night’s sleep is associated with good health, and a 2007 Greek investigation linked napping with a reduced risk of heart disease. Now four studies suggest that naps may boost intellectual performance, at least in the short term. The research shows that NREM sleep can improve memory and that REM sleep can enhance creative problem solving. It’s a two-step approach that should give every man something to sleep on.
The subjects in the studies mentioned were men, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t apply to women too.
Previously I had been working as a software engineer for a variety of studios, mostly on AAA console titles (Playstation, Xbox). I had a defined role, a selection of game areas I was responsible for, and I worked as part of a large team. I had a tech lead and a project manager, and everything was structured for me.
Not any more – now I am the tech lead, and the project manager. And the artist, the designer, the webmaster, the bizdev guy, and the tea boy[1]. I have the freedom to choose what I work on each day – but also the responsibility to choose what I work on, to organise, plan and schedule the work, and to make sure I’m working on the right thing. It’s thrilling and frightening both, and if I’m not careful it’s easy to enter some kind of analysis paralysis where I can’t start on anything because I’m worried it’s the wrong thing.
“Indeed this is probably the biggest challenge for me so far – working on the right thing at the right time.”
I know what Nick means!
I’m finding that every day I’m getting a better routine, a better technique, and better results. In a few months, I’ll be doing even better than I am now. Of course, these things work for me, they might not work for you. What do you do to organise time when working solo? How do you schedule and motivate yourself?
Motivation has never been a huge problem for me. Perhaps being a curiosity-driven only-child of immigrant parents has given me lots of incentive and opportunity to come up with puzzles and challenges to solve. Programming was a hobby during high school, and eventually it became my profession (after a bizarre detour into accounting — don’t ask). However, one recurring issue is the lack of feedback that comes from working in isolation. There are limited opportunities to bounce ideas off colleagues and potential users. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop (i.e. when the program is “good enough” to ship). Also, not having others to give you a reality check may mean occasionally going down some blind alleys.
Who is more engaged and more committed to their work and rates their leaders the highest? …
The team members who were not in the same location with their leaders were more engaged and committed — and rated the same leader higher — than team members sitting right nearby. While the differences were not enormous (a couple of tenths of a point in both categories), they were enough to provoke some interesting speculations as to why this might be happening.
Some possible reasons offered by the author:
• Proximity breeds complacency.
• Absence makes people try harder to connect.
• Leaders of virtual teams make a better use of tools.
• Leaders of far-flung teams maximize the time their teams spend together.
None of this is to say that working remotely is better than coming to the office. Or that virtual teams are better than traditional ones. On the contrary, I’m suggesting that they are exactly the same this regard: Someone working in the same office with their leader needs just as much effective communication as someone located in a different office. It’s just that, ironically, they’re less likely to get it.
Not convinced? Here’s what the rather outspoken lead developer of the Ruby on Rails framework has to say about remote workers: Stop whining and start hiring remote workers - (37signals).
And here’s some advice on how to manage staff remotely.
l8:
Este es el nuevo logo de Microsoft. ¿Cómo le caería este estilo a otros logos? Para los que no han leído la noticia: Si, Microsoft cambia oficialmente de logo a tiempo para lanzar Windows 8.
My rough translation into English:
This is Microsoft’s new logo. How would other logos look if they were redone in the same style? For those who haven’t read the news: Yes, Microsoft has officially changed its logo ahead of the launch of Windows 8.
How well do you know your customers? It’s certainly a tough thing to evaluate. Luckily, one fantastic tool we have in our arsenal for creating happy customers is research in social psychology. We also have data on company-customer interaction.
With these insights into the human mind and research studies on customer loyalty, we can more objectively approach questions like, “What makes a happy customer?”
Today, I’d like to discuss 10 such studies that reveal 10 things your customers WISH you knew about them.
Note: If you’re a visual learner, check out the infographic version of this post.
Customers Care More about Service Quality and Attitude than about Service Speed
Customers Know What They (and Other Customers) Want; They’re also Willing to Help
Customers like Loyalty Programs… as Long as You Make Them Seem Easy
Creating Goodwill with Customers Doesn’t Take a Lot of Money
Customers Absolutely Adore Personalization; They Will Gladly Pay More for It
Your Customers Love Stories and Are More Open to Your Business Selling through Them
Customers Will Remember Your Business If You Can Remember Their Names
It Pays to Surprise Your Customers: You Don’t Need to Trumpet Every Benefit
Selling “Time” over Savings Can put Your Customers in a Better Buying Mood
Bringing up Savings Makes Customers Feel Self-Centered and Greedy
Some useful tips I hope to apply running my own (very small) business. Many would probably also apply in an employment setting.