A presentation at codebar Festival by Matt Northam
little scraps of wisdom Matt Northam @mattnortham
“ I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom - Umberto Eco
i am matt @mattnortham
Julia Evans @b0rk
10 Little Scraps or, some things that being a parent has opened my eyes to or reaffirmed, which have benefited me in some way in my working life, that i thought might be nice to share with you
@mattnortham
you don’t have to get things perfect
don’t be afraid of making mistakes @mattnortham
learn > experiment > fail > learn > experiment > fail > learn > experiment > win!
it’s good to play
sometimes your play turns into your work
“ creativity is impossible without conditions
use what you know
“ disruptive innovations [are] technologically straightforward, consisting of off-the-shelf components …often simpler than prior approaches. Clayton M. Christensen
“ disruptive innovations [are] technologically straightforward, consisting of off-the-shelf components …often simpler than prior approaches. Clayton M. Christensen
if you encounter something new, document it
hell is other people’s code
hell is your own code from 3 years ago
celebrate your successes
celebrate your successes communicate your efforts
celebrate 🪜 Concrete steps we have taken towards larger goals. 🎉 Successes of value to us personally, but not necessarily to others. 👀 Your dificulties, failures AND mistakes.
when you get, give. when you learn, teach.
don’t get attached to your ideas
LISTEN SILENT
“ i criticise by creation, not by finding fault Cicero
more ‘yes, and’ less ‘no, but’
take a look around
under promise & over deliver
“ by age 5, children were less trusting of someone who sounded confident but had been wrong before, than someone who was tentative but had been right.
thank you
How my kids helped me to be a better developer.
This talk will highlight some of the key transferrable skills I’ve found between parenting and being a developer.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
This is from a slightly older version of the talk I did, but the same points apply and it’s still legit.
for free. You
can too.