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The 3 Mindsets to Avoid as a Senior Software Developer
The more we’ve learned, the more we’ve realized there’s so much more to learn
As developers, the longer we’re on the job, the more experience we gain. Eventually, we may even become the go-to person on our team or in our organization, seen as the technical guru of our field.
At this level, we get a self-esteem boost, which is positive. But at times we may fall into the trap of getting an unnecessary ego. The wrong mindset creeps in, which can lead to the beginning of our downfall.
I’ve been through that journey. So I now consciously remind myself not to fall into one of those mindsets again. We’ll talk about three of them.
I’m a Self-Taught Programmer, and I Need No One
I once saw a tweet from a person who claimed his father (a programmer) offered to teach him how to code, and he rejected it. The author of the tweet is now a developer, describing himself as a self-taught programmer.
Programming isn’t a skill one can master completely by simply taking a course or getting a degree. A lot of sweat and time spent digging and learning is needed to build one’s competency.
It’s not a field that can be effectively explored and fully discovered alone. We might not have a personal mentor and we may not have taken any formal courses, but that doesn’t change the fact that we still learn by reading from somewhere — whether that be a book, tutorial, blog, manual, or even Stack Overflow. All these things were written by someone.
In fact, the best way to learn programming is by working with a group of developers — through code reviews, pairings, constant discussion, and the exchange of ideas and the information learned. Attending conferences, guilds, dojos, etc. helps too.
Therefore, much of what we’ve learned and where we are today isn’t a result of our self-meditation on a mountain. Instead, it’s an accumulated assimilation of the knowledge and experience others have shared with us, either directly or indirectly.
We should always be grateful.
