Career Development Prework
(1) The three behaviors that most resonated with me were (14) Never accept freelance work in an unfamiliar technology, (22) Skip a lot of meetings, and (26) Act as a leader, not a boss. The freelance piece resonated because freelance is a piece of coding that I consider to be an advantage and something that I'd like to incorporate in the future, so it was nice to have valuable clarification on the idea. The skipping meetings one because I am coming from an environment where weekly meetings are the norm even when no work is being accomplished. Too many people are afraid to cancel a meeting that serves no purpose. And the leader one because it is the absolute truth. And also the primary reason why I'm more interested in excelling technically so I can support teams in that way, than to excel as a people manager.
(2) Coming from the background of lean six sigma and process improvement, I'm already a firm believer in checklists and have used them many times in career already. I would imagine though, that as a student and later as a developer, that a checklist could serve as an important reminder for some of the aspects of coding that aren't as obvious. Just in googling "coding checklist," there are so many out there! And as I gain experience as a developer, the can adjust those checklists to make sure they meet my own or my team's specific needs and potential weaknesses that need a bit more attention throughout process.
(3) My impression of strengths-based development is quite positive. There's a concept I was introduced to in a yoga class around "following the energy," and I think focusing on one's strengths has a similar effect. People are going to be more motivated and excited to apply their strengths to something than they will be to struggle through applying their weaknesses. I do wonder though, if strengths-based development creates a larger gap between a person's strengths and weaknesses? Would focusing on one's strengths have the effect of narrowing his or her future options? I feel my top strengths are probably in the relationship building category. It is where I gain the most enjoyment and where I get responses from people to suggest that might be the case. I'm also highly logical though, and am good at seeing how things align in a process, which would be quite different than relationship building! As far as developing my strengths, I think identifying them first will be a great start, and then give me the opportunity for self-awareness and understanding when and where I use certain strengths so that I can learn from the experience and further develop that strength as appropriate.