AkiraBrand · June 13, 2018 20:10
diff --git a/Turing Career Development Pre-Work b/Turing Career Development Pre-Work
 29 behaviors that will make you an unstoppable programmer article reflection

 #8. "Say, 'I don't know'." 
 This one really resonated with me, because in life in general, I've started training myself to admit that I don't have the answers to a LOT of the problems that I face on a daily basis. 
 This allows me to get into a curiousity-based mindset, as opposed to a prideful and even somewhat desperate mindsetm (its hard to be prideful about 'knowing' what you're doing while at the same time, being totally stuck and unwilling to ask for help.
 I also liked the point made that, as a software engineer, you will constantly be exposed to new tech, and if you ever think you've "made it" in terms of your knowledge base, you will be sorely outpaced by others!
 So, to readily and constantly admit not knowing something, you open yourself up to growth, development, and a larger amount of satisfaction.

 #9. Always analyze the clues found in error messages
 I picked this one because I really like that even if you mess up, the computer will give you a hint as to how to fix it. 
 In traditional education or work environments, failure is often equated to a dead end, with no pointers given as to how to fix the problem, and usually a over-stern reprimand.
 But, if you can learn to analyze what the error message is telling you, I've found just in my short few days of learning Ruby, that you really *can* fix what is wrong and move on!
 Also, its cool that if you type in the error message in your search engine, you may just find out what is wrong! Pretty nifty. 

 #29. Move Fast and Break Things
 What a great title for a section!
 This REALLY resonated with me, as I've already found through the pre-work that if I get stuck on absolute perfection, I will quickly get frustrated and waste time getting emotional.
 I've learned that its important to move quickly just as its important to be ok with making a ton of mistakes.
 And as we have referenced before, there is alway the clues in the error message to help fix the problem, or a more senior-level dev who will hopefully lend a hand.
 Its especially refreshing coming from the classical music world, where everything has to be absolutely perfect, 100% of the time, at least in theory. As we all know, in practice, this never happens-but its seen as shameful when there are even minor mistakes!
 So, its quite refreshing to be in a different community where making tons of mistakes is seen as an integral part of the working process!


 Organization sect
 If I've learned anything about tech, thus far, its that it can get extremely complex very quickly, much like modern medicine. As noted in Atul Gawande's book, "The Problem of Extreme Complexity", 
 "To save this one child, scores of people had to carry out thousands of steps correctly...Medicine has become the art of managing extreme complexity — and a test of whether such complexity can, in fact, be humanly mastered."
 When working with technology, a similar working environment exists: one where many, many people must work in tandem over multiple lines of communication on extremely complex projectx potentially involving thousands of line of code in stressful and time-crunched environments.
 If left up to chance and even the individual's expertise, communication breaks down, productivity can screech to a halt, and emotions can run extremely hot. 
 This is where a basic checklist can come in, to make certain that certain parameters are consistently met to simplify the working process. I see that as a student I can make simple checklists before sitting down to work on a project, and when in a work setting, I can see how 
 a checklist will expidite the work of a huge team of individuals all with different ways of doing the same thing. At its core, its a tool to keep people on track to use the "K.I.S.S." method-keep it simple, stupid! The simpler I can make my work as a student and as a professional, the more productive 
 and open to learning new things I will be.

 Strengths finder
 What is your impression of strengths-based development? What questions do you have about this kind of development?
 I feel that it's a great tool to provide a much more personalized snapshot of someone's ability, as opposed to the MBTI which portrays arbitrary personality traits that the individual has no control over.
 It also allows for stronger teams to be built, as it plays on someone's ability to do something well and looks to see what strengths are needed for a particular project, as opposed to merely matching up people given their 
 previous work experience. If I had a project where I needed someone who is really great at training, for example, I'd rather hire someone who has that strenght and teach them the necessary curriculm, rather than someone who knows the curriculum 
 but freezes in front of a classroom.
 I do wonder that if the strenghts are "fixed", or if someone can develop several sets of strenghts or conversely let a strength atrophy, much like building up a muscle group by lifting weights at the gym.


 What do you feel are your top strengths? How do you know?
 I feel that I am intensely creative, as well as a good learner and I am very good at demonstrating "grit".
 I know I am creative because I have been so my entire life, not only in the concrete "artistic" sense, but also in my approach to my lifestyle and how I like to solve problems.  I like forumulic answers as much as anyone, I suppose, but 
 what really lights my fire is finding a new way to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem. I think out of the box by default, one of the reasons that I have jumped from singing opera as my main career to software development-I see a connection 
 between how the brain processes music and executing proper musical technique and writing code. I know I am a good learner because I actually listen to what the teacher is saying to me, and even if the teacher is not very good I voraciously persue
 whatever knowledge I can get out of the situation. Ironically, this doesn't always equate to excellent grades, but most of the time this curiousity combined with creativity results in innvoative 
 solutions and ideas that are well thought-out and defended. Grit, well, that speaks for itself. Once I set my sights on somehting, I refuse to give up until that thing is attained. It may not always look like how I envisioned it in the beginning, but 
 I continue to perservere until I am satisfied, and then some more!


 How do you hope to develop your strengths for your new career in software development?
 I very much hope to develop programs that solve complex problems in a simple, elegant, and creative manner. I also hope to learn more about how I relate to people in my very non-traditional way and be able to learn what I do well in that arena and 
 capitalize on it so I can develop better, more fruitful relationships with my colleagues and clients.
	29 behaviors that will make you an unstoppable programmer article reflection

	#8. "Say, 'I don't know'."
	This one really resonated with me, because in life in general, I've started training myself to admit that I don't have the answers to a LOT of the problems that I face on a daily basis.
	This allows me to get into a curiousity-based mindset, as opposed to a prideful and even somewhat desperate mindsetm (its hard to be prideful about 'knowing' what you're doing while at the same time, being totally stuck and unwilling to ask for help.
	I also liked the point made that, as a software engineer, you will constantly be exposed to new tech, and if you ever think you've "made it" in terms of your knowledge base, you will be sorely outpaced by others!
	So, to readily and constantly admit not knowing something, you open yourself up to growth, development, and a larger amount of satisfaction.

	#9. Always analyze the clues found in error messages
	I picked this one because I really like that even if you mess up, the computer will give you a hint as to how to fix it.
	In traditional education or work environments, failure is often equated to a dead end, with no pointers given as to how to fix the problem, and usually a over-stern reprimand.
	But, if you can learn to analyze what the error message is telling you, I've found just in my short few days of learning Ruby, that you really can fix what is wrong and move on!
	Also, its cool that if you type in the error message in your search engine, you may just find out what is wrong! Pretty nifty.

	#29. Move Fast and Break Things
	What a great title for a section!
	This REALLY resonated with me, as I've already found through the pre-work that if I get stuck on absolute perfection, I will quickly get frustrated and waste time getting emotional.
	I've learned that its important to move quickly just as its important to be ok with making a ton of mistakes.
	And as we have referenced before, there is alway the clues in the error message to help fix the problem, or a more senior-level dev who will hopefully lend a hand.
	Its especially refreshing coming from the classical music world, where everything has to be absolutely perfect, 100% of the time, at least in theory. As we all know, in practice, this never happens-but its seen as shameful when there are even minor mistakes!
	So, its quite refreshing to be in a different community where making tons of mistakes is seen as an integral part of the working process!


	Organization sect
	If I've learned anything about tech, thus far, its that it can get extremely complex very quickly, much like modern medicine. As noted in Atul Gawande's book, "The Problem of Extreme Complexity",
	"To save this one child, scores of people had to carry out thousands of steps correctly...Medicine has become the art of managing extreme complexity — and a test of whether such complexity can, in fact, be humanly mastered."
	When working with technology, a similar working environment exists: one where many, many people must work in tandem over multiple lines of communication on extremely complex projectx potentially involving thousands of line of code in stressful and time-crunched environments.
	If left up to chance and even the individual's expertise, communication breaks down, productivity can screech to a halt, and emotions can run extremely hot.
	This is where a basic checklist can come in, to make certain that certain parameters are consistently met to simplify the working process. I see that as a student I can make simple checklists before sitting down to work on a project, and when in a work setting, I can see how
	a checklist will expidite the work of a huge team of individuals all with different ways of doing the same thing. At its core, its a tool to keep people on track to use the "K.I.S.S." method-keep it simple, stupid! The simpler I can make my work as a student and as a professional, the more productive
	and open to learning new things I will be.

	Strengths finder
	What is your impression of strengths-based development? What questions do you have about this kind of development?
	I feel that it's a great tool to provide a much more personalized snapshot of someone's ability, as opposed to the MBTI which portrays arbitrary personality traits that the individual has no control over.
	It also allows for stronger teams to be built, as it plays on someone's ability to do something well and looks to see what strengths are needed for a particular project, as opposed to merely matching up people given their
	previous work experience. If I had a project where I needed someone who is really great at training, for example, I'd rather hire someone who has that strenght and teach them the necessary curriculm, rather than someone who knows the curriculum
	but freezes in front of a classroom.
	I do wonder that if the strenghts are "fixed", or if someone can develop several sets of strenghts or conversely let a strength atrophy, much like building up a muscle group by lifting weights at the gym.


	What do you feel are your top strengths? How do you know?
	I feel that I am intensely creative, as well as a good learner and I am very good at demonstrating "grit".
	I know I am creative because I have been so my entire life, not only in the concrete "artistic" sense, but also in my approach to my lifestyle and how I like to solve problems. I like forumulic answers as much as anyone, I suppose, but
	what really lights my fire is finding a new way to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem. I think out of the box by default, one of the reasons that I have jumped from singing opera as my main career to software development-I see a connection
	between how the brain processes music and executing proper musical technique and writing code. I know I am a good learner because I actually listen to what the teacher is saying to me, and even if the teacher is not very good I voraciously persue
	whatever knowledge I can get out of the situation. Ironically, this doesn't always equate to excellent grades, but most of the time this curiousity combined with creativity results in innvoative
	solutions and ideas that are well thought-out and defended. Grit, well, that speaks for itself. Once I set my sights on somehting, I refuse to give up until that thing is attained. It may not always look like how I envisioned it in the beginning, but
	I continue to perservere until I am satisfied, and then some more!


	How do you hope to develop your strengths for your new career in software development?
	I very much hope to develop programs that solve complex problems in a simple, elegant, and creative manner. I also hope to learn more about how I relate to people in my very non-traditional way and be able to learn what I do well in that arena and
	capitalize on it so I can develop better, more fruitful relationships with my colleagues and clients.
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