Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
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Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
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Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#2> Spend more time trying to figure things out for yourself before asking for help.
Isn't this obvious and don't most developers want to do this?
I work with someone who basically refuses to figure things out for himself and goes from person to person trying to get us to tell him how to develop something. Eventually he throws so much cruft at a project until it works.
It's been years and he asks the same questions. I've told the others I work with to stop helping him. Grow or die.
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#3I think this is a dangerous and terrible rule of thumb that will definitely damage culture. It's such an egotistical view that you're so smart, you don't need anyone to help you ever. I would rather work with a bunch of "non-rockstars" than a bunch of assholes. IMO, this deification destroys values like modesty and is generally counterproductive.
If you're really looking to save everyone time, a good balance may be the optimal way. I've seen success with better mantras such as "if you can't find the solution within 10-15 minutes, ask someone". This prevents you from bothering people with Google-able questions, and it saves you from wasting half the day because you were too reluctant to ask the person next to you thanks to your fragile ego.
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#4I came across this a while back and is what I tell all the newer people that I mentor: https://blogs.akamai.com/2013/10/you-must-try-and-then-you-m...
Some people tend to miss the "You MUST try" part. I am more than happy to take a million questions of the "I tried x, y, z and saw a, b, and c; what's up?" variety. Where it gets frustrating are questions like "I haven't really tried to hunt this down yet, but how do I do ?"
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#5I think this is a dangerous and terrible rule of thumb that will definitely damage culture. It's such an egotistical view that you're so smart, you don't need anyone to help you ever. I would rather work with a bunch of "non-rockstars" than a bunch of assholes. IMO, this deification destroys values like modesty and is generally counterproductive. If you're really looking to save everyone time, a good balance may be t…
Not asking for help / debugging yourself helps you make a leap to a better understanding of the language. You will certainly remember the next time you see that bug and over time, you build up your own knowledge so you have ask for help less. Asking for help is just short-term greedy: solves things now but doesn't help you (or your company) in the long-term.
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#6> Spend more time trying to figure things out for yourself before asking for help. Isn't this obvious and don't most developers want to do this? I work with someone who basically refuses to figure things out for himself and goes from person to person trying to get us to tell him how to develop something. Eventually he throws so much cruft at a project until it works. It's been years and he asks the same questions. I'…
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#7You didn't get a promotion because one guy said something bad?
That doesn't sound right... I mean sure not everyone is going to like you at a large company like Google.
Ignoring that fact, this article is actually really good.
This is not always correct. if you are stuck on something, you should always ask people even if it is just describing the problem to them and then you usually have a solution before you finish the description, but if you don't. They may be able to lead you in the right direction.
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#8[deleted]
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#9I think this is a dangerous and terrible rule of thumb that will definitely damage culture. It's such an egotistical view that you're so smart, you don't need anyone to help you ever. I would rather work with a bunch of "non-rockstars" than a bunch of assholes. IMO, this deification destroys values like modesty and is generally counterproductive. If you're really looking to save everyone time, a good balance may be t…
Not asking for help / debugging yourself helps you make a leap to a better understanding of the language. You will certainly remember the next time you see that bug and over time, you build up your own knowledge so you have ask for help less. Asking for help is just short-term greedy: solves things now but doesn't help you (or your company) in the long-term.
Not asking for help / debugging yourself helps you make a leap to a better understanding of the language
Or it'll mean that you repeat the same mistake over and over because you wrongly believe that you understand something.
If you don't check with a third party you have no way to know if you're doing things the best possible way. Or even the right way.
Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help
#10I think this is a dangerous and terrible rule of thumb that will definitely damage culture. It's such an egotistical view that you're so smart, you don't need anyone to help you ever. I would rather work with a bunch of "non-rockstars" than a bunch of assholes. IMO, this deification destroys values like modesty and is generally counterproductive. If you're really looking to save everyone time, a good balance may be t…
I feel that when he makes the claim of "never" is where you are having a problem. You really should try to figure things out on your own because that is the only way to are going to permanently attach the solution to the problem. When others help you, the solution doesn't always stick and you are left coming back when you run into something similar months down the line.
Now if you are banging your head into the desk for multiple hours, then maybe you should have asked for help. But as he points out, there are situations where (as a tech lead for a startup) you aren't going to be able to ask for help.
You are taking what he says as "I'm so smart I don't need help" instead of seeing it as "I may not know how to fix this now, but I am determined to figure out a way". You are attaching a very negative view instead of seeing it as resilience in the face of a problem.