Expediting Your Learning
Forcing Yourself to Dive Deeper
Shoutout to my friend Alex B., his presentation on Sidekiq made me think of this.
Part of being a well-rounded software engineer is deepening your technical skills.
However, learning takes time and it can be difficult to motivate yourself to deepen your technical knowledge beyond the minimum needed to finish your current tickets.
One way I’ve found that helps: volunteering to give a presentation on something you’re not yet an expert on.
Why you should do this:
You’ll learn more than you would if someone else was presenting it to you. This is because you’ll feel responsible for everyone attending your presentation so you’ll dive deeper than you otherwise would.
You’ll get to learn from (and build relationships with) the experts at your company that you wished were giving the presentation. Ask for their help and feedback.
You’ll practice presenting, which is an EXTREMELY valuable skill.
You’ll be helping up-skill other engineers. Sharing is caring :)
You’ll be increasing the impact you provide.