Ask HN: What lessons did you learn from your best or worst colleagues?

Sure, but I don't agree that touch typing is "the" technique and that it's impossible that someone else has come up with a better one independently. Touch typing is a good way to type well, but I don't think it's distinct from "typing", it's one way to type. Just like you can play the guitar even if you don't know the technique.

> - Why do you think you did slow down after the switch to touch typing?

I have no idea, the way to hit the keys just feels less convenient to me. For example, the x and c are harder to hit because my fingers don't like going there, I can't really explain it better.

> - Why did you feel the need to switch to touch typing if the skill you already had was so good?

Half because I got an ortho split keyboard and couldn't use my old technique with it, and half because everyone said touch typing is so much better.

> - Do you regret switching to touch typing? Why?

Yes, my old technique is much more comfortable and faster. I still type the "old" way on regular keyboards, but it's not such a big deal either way, since I'm usually limited by the speed of my brain rather than my hands, and I don't much mind the reduced accuracy either. I'm touch typing this on the split keyboard right now.

> - How many years did it take you to get to 120 wpm at 98%?

I've been typing that way for 20 years, so I can't really say. I definitely remember being pretty good around 4 years in, possibly long before that.

> - Is there anything you miss from your old technique (beside the higher stats)?

It just feels more comfortable, when I touch-type I feel a bit like I'm fighting the keyboard, or as if I'm wearing shoes half a size too small. With my old technique (e.g. on my laptop) I feel at home.

well if you are "right a lot" then it's easy to reap "better dividends".

it's easy to get promoted, just never introduce bugs and always know the solution to all problems and deliver it before yesterday!

the lessons learned will cover all of existance as you will learn more about how people model the world, problems and solutions beyond the specifics of the problem at hand.

*if doing this drains you make a change of environment (e.g. job), however i find that the discussions you have like this change other peoples thinking more effectively, so its also how you sew the seeds of cultural change.

So, I asked my boss at the time for my own area. He said no.

That frustrated me, and I decided that the best thing to do is to grind some knowledge out of the situation. No better revenge than personal success, right? I slowly became an expert on every little makefile, shell script, Cron job, any little utility program I could get my hands on, I tried to understand it and improve it.

After a few months of this, I went to sysadmin and made a request along the lines of "I'm so-and-so, I work in DBA, I want to interview for this department, and if I I'm more knowledgeable than someone here, I'd like to challenge for that position, and I want my own workspace."

This was ~15 years ago now, it was a bit easier to get away with having one's head up one's ass back then.

Anyhow, I ended up with a role there, and 3yrs later I was the director for that department.

My cubemate never left. I'd still smell his food when I walked through that part of the building to my lunch break. I guess nobody got the last laugh, but I felt proud of myself for realizing I could improve my worth just by working hard at it and using the resources available.

Edit:

I thought of another one. Maybe six months before covid kinda jumped off, a young woman interning for me told me I don't drink enough water and challenged me to drink something like half my weight in lbs, in oz of water everyday. I've been doing it nearly every day since, and it's truly been impactful. Wish I'd done it at her age. My sleep is better, I feel more energized, and I dropped a few pounds before covid came. They came back. But nevertheless, hydration is a big deal.