Can a "DIY Mindset" Keep Programmers From Growing?

Thriving Technologist

We programmers love to "do it ourselves", and this can help us stay productive and keep ourselves busy. But the dark side of this tendency, is that it can make it harder to get help - when we actually need it.

In this episode, I share some ways I've learned that software engineers are trained by society, the workforce, and the software industry to resist getting help from others. Then I offer some practical questions you can ask yourself to know if you're in a situation where you should really adopt the DIY mindset - or avoid getting trapped into learning something you don't need to.

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You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Chapter markers / timelinks:

(0:00) Introduction (1:22) 1 3 Reasons Why Programmers Don't Get Help (1:28) 1.1 Individualized Education (2:02) 1.2 Corporate Reinforcement (2:41) 1.3 Gossip over Substance (4:49) 2 5 Reasons DIY Can Be a Bad Idea (4:57) 2.1 Low Repeatability Activity (6:41) 2.2 Outside Your Core Skill Set (7:41) 2.3 You've Failed 3 Times (9:23) 2.4 You Keep Putting It Off (10:41) 2.5 Easy Access to An Expert (12:33) Episode Groove

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