Learning Cultures in Tech

Outline

• The Learning Debt Cycle (~15 min)
• Structured Discussion (~60 min)
• Takeaways and Action Items (~15 min)

It’s Like Coding In The Dark

The Need For Learning Cultures Within Coding Teams

Catherine Hicks, Catharsis Consulting, 2022

Currently: Developer Success Lab | VP of Research Insights, Pluralsight

Active Learning Is Invisible

• Learning by testing conceptual mental models with tangible examples
• Goal is to scaffold understanding until confident you can contribute

Other Invisible Work

• Refactoring / technical debt
• “Non-promotable tasks”
• Glue work (see: Tanya Reilly - https://noidea.dog/glue)

Code Reviews Don’t Feel Safe

• Reputation threat
• Focus on “sounding like an engineer”
• Feels like being tested

Lonely Environment

• Back to coding alone
• Minimal Support
• Hide your learning work

Learning vs. Performance

Performance culture

• Only “final” outputs matter
• Mistakes are not okay. They get hidden.
• Seems like people are “born” good/bad performers

Coding in the dark

“It’s like coding in the dark. Every once in a while someone comes in to turn on the lights and stare at you, like review, but then you feel like you have to defend something. But mostly I feel like I’m just sitting here with all the lights off.”

Learning Debt Cycle

Learning Debt

When learning is necessary but discouraged, so learning becomes hidden

Recommendations

• Involve people in defining “success”
• Encourage developmental feedback
• Make documentation and collaboration “count”
• Celebrate collaborative support. It counts as “technical”.
• Make the costs of learning debt visible

“Being Glue” Recommendations

Tanya Reilly - https://noidea.dog/glue

• Learn deliberately
• Learn at work
• Be public about what you are learning
• Watch out for learning opportunities. Don’t automatically do things for people.
• Ensure no invisible/glue work on job ladder

Discussion Questions

When was your active learning work (not) celebrated?

When have you felt safe/unsafe during a code review?

When have you felt lonely or unsupported while working?

What was your best or worst experience onboarding at a new team/company?

What was your best or worst experience collaborating on a problem?

How are decisions, documentation, and knowledge shared in your organizations?

What works best?

When have you received helpful feedback outside of formal performance reviews?

Have you made a mistake at work? What happened?

Has it ever been really hard/easy to ask for help?

When have you met with hypocrisy around learning?

It’s okay to make mistakes, but it’s not okay to make that mistake.

When has someone tried to improve the learning culture, but faced pushback?

When has your learning work been the most visible or invisible?

Takeaways and Action Items?