Learning Cultures in Tech
Dan Mazur, PhD
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.