How a Rubber Duck Can Solve (Almost) Anything

A sensible guide for talking to ducks — and becoming more like one

Duck photo by OwenJCSmith from Getty Images. Arranged with text by author in Canva Pro.

In software engineering, there is a simple yet clever trick for getting unstuck. It is called rubber duck debugging and it works a charm for finding a way out of a tangled mess.

The steps are simple:

1. First, get yourself a small, bathtub-variety rubber duck. If no ducks are immediately available, any non-threatening inanimate object will do.
2. Next, with the object in front of you, tell it your problem. Make sure to methodically talk through your challenge, step by step.

Through this act of verbalising, more often than not, you will spot an error or gain an insight about what might be awry.

What’s great about this method is that it can be applied to more than technical problems. I discovered this myself in my wayward, 8-year career journey from Web Developer to UX Researcher to Transformational Coach.

In short, I learned — the hard way — how to become the person I needed when I was stuck and struggling with code problems (and beyond).

I didn’t realise it at the time, but the rubber duck debugging method was crucial to my self-coaching. Mastering this method is what has enabled me to…