A keynote on what it means to be a developer and to stay updated

1. BE THE BEST YOUBE THE BEST YOU
ONE DEVELOPERS JOURNEY TO FIGHTONE DEVELOPERS JOURNEY TO FIGHT
THE IMPOSTER SYNDROMETHE IMPOSTER SYNDROME
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2. About me
Google Developer Expert
Telerik Developer Expert
Digital McKinsey
@chris_noring
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3. DEVELOPERS COME IN ALLDEVELOPERS COME IN ALL
SHAPES AND SIZESSHAPES AND SIZES
3 . 1

4. SOME OF US ARE PARENTSSOME OF US ARE PARENTS
3 . 2

5. SOME ARE EEH, VIKINGS?SOME ARE EEH, VIKINGS?
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6. SOME ARE JUST BADASSSOME ARE JUST BADASS
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7. THIS IS A DEVELOPER TOOTHIS IS A DEVELOPER TOO
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8. NO I MEAN THISNO I MEAN THIS
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9. LET'S TALK ABOUT USERS :)LET'S TALK ABOUT USERS :)
4 . 1

10. OUR SOFTWARE HAS USERSOUR SOFTWARE HAS USERS
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11. Yes we need to care
4 . 3

12. USERS REALLY DON'T SPEAKUSERS REALLY DON'T SPEAK
OUR LANGUAGEOUR LANGUAGE
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13. WHAT THEY MEAN AND YOUWHAT THEY MEAN AND YOU
MEAN MIGHT NOT BE THE SAMEMEAN MIGHT NOT BE THE SAME
:):)
4 . 5

14. Punchline: learn who your user is and let that guide
your so ware
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15. OUR JOB IS HARDOUR JOB IS HARD
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16. IT TAKES A LOT OFIT TAKES A LOT OF
CONCENTRATIONCONCENTRATION
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17. DAMN IF YOU DO...DAMN IF YOU DO...
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18. BUGS ARE FUNBUGS ARE FUN
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19. PROGRAMMERS DILEMMAPROGRAMMERS DILEMMA
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20. WE HAVE ALL SEEN CODE LIKEWE HAVE ALL SEEN CODE LIKE
THISTHIS
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21. IT'S NOT A RACE, IT'S AIT'S NOT A RACE, IT'S A
MARATHONMARATHON
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22. DON'T TAKE SHORTCUTSDON'T TAKE SHORTCUTS
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23. ARE WE BEING REPLACED BY AI?ARE WE BEING REPLACED BY AI?
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24. DON'T FORGET EMPATHYDON'T FORGET EMPATHY
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25. WE LOVE OUR JOBWE LOVE OUR JOB
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26. DEVELOPERS MAKE EVERYTHINGDEVELOPERS MAKE EVERYTHING
BETTER ( GOOGLE MAPS )BETTER ( GOOGLE MAPS )
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27. WE NEVER GREW UP - AND WEWE NEVER GREW UP - AND WE
ARE PROUD OF IT :)ARE PROUD OF IT :)
6 . 3

28. WE LIKE DANGERWE LIKE DANGER
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29. WE LOVE/HATE OUR JOBWE LOVE/HATE OUR JOB
IT'S COMPLICATEDIT'S COMPLICATED
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30. SOMETIMES WE LAUGH AND CRYSOMETIMES WE LAUGH AND CRY
AT THE SAME TIMEAT THE SAME TIME
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31. PROBLEM SOLVING IS FUN BUTPROBLEM SOLVING IS FUN BUT
GIVES US HEADACHEGIVES US HEADACHE
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32. SOMETIMES IT'S ALL TOO MUCHSOMETIMES IT'S ALL TOO MUCH
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33. BE MINDFUL OF BURNOUTBE MINDFUL OF BURNOUT
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34. GEEK HUMOUR IS GREATGEEK HUMOUR IS GREAT
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35. WE HAVE THE BEST JOKESWE HAVE THE BEST JOKES
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36. SOMETIMES THE JOKE BECOMESSOMETIMES THE JOKE BECOMES
TRUTHTRUTH
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37. I'M HERE ALL WEEKI'M HERE ALL WEEK
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38. LAUGHTER IS A DEFENCELAUGHTER IS A DEFENCE
MECHANISMMECHANISM
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39. WHAT IS THE IMPOSTERWHAT IS THE IMPOSTER
SYNDROM?SYNDROM?
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40. Fear of being seen as a fraud have a persistent fear
of being exposed as a "fraud"
Feels they do not deserve the success Convinced
that they are frauds and do not deserve the success
they have achieved.
It's just luck Proof of success is dismissed as luck,
timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking
they are more intelligent and competent than they
believe themselves to be.
Affects men and women equally Impostor syndrome
has been found to affect both men and women, in
roughly equal numbers.
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41. At least in this men and women feels equally shitty -
SUCCESS ;)
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42. Be nice to yourself
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43. WE ALL HAVE IT, DOESN'TWE ALL HAVE IT, DOESN'T
MATTER HOW SENIORMATTER HOW SENIOR
IT'S COMPLICATEDIT'S COMPLICATED
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44. WE ALL SAID SOMETHING LIKEWE ALL SAID SOMETHING LIKE
THIS AT SOME POINT RIGHT?THIS AT SOME POINT RIGHT?
FUN FACT: SEAN LARKIN IS A CHICKEN FARMERFUN FACT: SEAN LARKIN IS A CHICKEN FARMER
8 . 6

45. BATTLING THE IMPOSTERBATTLING THE IMPOSTER
SYNDROMSYNDROM
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46. STUDYSTUDY
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47. THE FOUR STAGES OFTHE FOUR STAGES OF
COMPETENCECOMPETENCE
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48. 9 . 4

49. UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCEUNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE
The individual does not understand or know how to
do something
Does not necessarily recognize the deficit
They may deny the usefulness of the skill.
The individual must recognize their own
incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before
moving on to the next stage.[2]
The length of time an individual spends in this stage
depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn.[3]
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50. CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCECONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE
Though the individual does not understand or know
how to do something, they recognize the deficit, as
well as the value of a new skill in addressing the
deficit.
The making of mistakes can be integral to the
learning process at this stage.[4]
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51. CONSCIOUS COMPETENCECONSCIOUS COMPETENCE
The individual understands or knows how to do
something.
Demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires
concentration.
It may be broken down into steps, and there is
heavy conscious involvement in executing the new
skill.[3]
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52. UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCEUNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE
The individual has had so much practice with a skill
that it has become "second nature" and can be
performed easily.
The skill can be performed while executing another
task.
The individual may be able to teach it to others,
depending upon how and when it was learned.
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53. OK, SO HOW DO WE GET THERE?OK, SO HOW DO WE GET THERE?
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54. Learn the correct terms and the bigger picture ( try
teach others at a meetup, write a blog post )
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55. Start a FAQ on a topic, the keywords
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56. Ask for feedback on code and written pieces
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57. PRACTICEPRACTICE
Ther is some truth here, you can't be a theoretical
carpenter
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58. HOW DO I PRACTICE?HOW DO I PRACTICE?
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59. Code wars - https://www.codewars.com/
Cyber dojo - http://cyber-dojo.org/
OSS projects
Play projects
https://regexone.com/
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60. HOW MUCH PRACTICE &HOW MUCH PRACTICE &
STUDYING?STUDYING?
8h practice a day = 5.1 years 9 . 16

61. Caution, don't become an EXPERT BEGINNER.
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62. Deepen your knowledge, learn something new
everytime you practice
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63. Learn the edges of your problem domain
Learn when it shines
Learn when it hurts
Try to see parallells to other problem domains
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64. DON'T DO MORE THAN YOU HAVEDON'T DO MORE THAN YOU HAVE
TO, AUTOMATE ALL BORINGTO, AUTOMATE ALL BORING
THINGSTHINGS
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65. THINK BEFORE YOU CODETHINK BEFORE YOU CODE
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66. SOMETIMES IT'S MORE ABOUTSOMETIMES IT'S MORE ABOUT
CHANGING PERSPECTIVECHANGING PERSPECTIVE
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67. MAYBE THE SOLUTION ISN'TMAYBE THE SOLUTION ISN'T
MORE CODE?MORE CODE?
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68. COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATION
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69. Code is simpler than people, who agrees?
10 . 2

70. Learn to communicate clearly and with precision
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71. How do we train this?
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72. lightning talks
conference talks
writing, can clear your thoughts
Code pairing, forces you to explain how you think
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73. PSYCHOLOGYPSYCHOLOGY
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74. All the fancy tech skills in the world can't save you
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75. All the communication in the world can't save you (
maybe )
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76. The right mindset will
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77. Don't be this guy
Don't point out the problems
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78. This needs to be your mindset
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79. Instead of saying : I see problems with your solutions
Say: I see the following problems but here is a way to
fix them
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80. You have to believe you can learn anything
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81. You have to believe you can solve any problem
11 . 9

82. Only what YOU think and YOU believe about YOUR own
ability matters
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83. One of the best developers I know says:
Anyone can do what I do, it's all about choices. Most
people don't want to spend the hours it takes to be
great.
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84. Ultimately YOU decide what greatness is to you
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85. You are the main character in the story that is your life
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86. You decide the limit to your greatness
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87. Thank you
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