Corporates kill software developers…
Software developers create. We solve problems. The best of us are driven by a burning desire to learn new things.
You’d think that working at a large corporate (with its ‘endless’ resources) would be a dream for most developers. But this isn’t always the case.
Corporates are slow to change
Between the pointless bureaucracy, the shit-storm of meetings and the endless back-and-forth between teams, developers often become locked into the corporate’s toolchain.
Keeping abreast with the latest changes in your particular field can be quite difficult. It may take many many meetings with managers just to get them to agree if they should consider moving to the next version of ‘Language X’ or ‘Framework Y’, let alone finding the budget to buy, test and create new products/features with the New Shinny!
Given their large, sprawling infrastructure, corporates are legitimately slow.
But what to do as a developer?
Well, the good news is that it’s not all doom and gloom. At the end of the day, as a developer you do what you do best — you create!
There are a plethora of things to learn. New frameworks, languages and technologies are constantly emerging. Additionally, there are countless Open Source Software projects to which you can contribute.
Wait…what?…you don’t have the time?
Nonsense! Frankly, it’s all about how you prioritize you goals.
Pick one: Become stagnant vs. Learn something new. See how easy that was.
Learning something new doesn’t have to be some grand endeavor. Shit, this isn’t the Lord of the Rings!
- Answer questions. 15 minutes a day on github.com or on stackoverflow.com can do marvels for your confidence. It also exposes you to gaps in your knowledge.
- Contribute to OSS. This doesn’t mean sinking hour and hours of your life into these projects; nope. Fixing the occasional typo, adding comments, fixing bugs can also do plenty to keep stagnation at bay and it doesn’t take very long.
- Update your tool-chain/workflow. There must be something in your current tool-chain/workflow that irritates the hell out of you, or something that you wish could be just a little bit better — fix it. Use ‘Language X’ or ‘Framework Y’ to make your life better, and then share it on github!
- Read. There are countless places online where you can get good technical ebooks or blog posts. Medium is a good place to start, or your favorite tech company’s blog may be another.
- Write. Share your knowledge. This is actually pretty good as it forces you to hone your one skills.
- Finally, my all time favorite cure for stagnation… create your own language; you are a Software Developer after all!
The take away
Working at a corporate or any firm for that matter, isn’t a reason to become stagnant. Not in today’s world. There are just so many opportunities for you to improve your own life and to empower yourself, to sit idly by while the world moves on past you.
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