Dev Sounds Podcast
By Dev Sounds Podcast
Dev Sounds PodcastNov 06, 2022
Team Bonding
In a remote work world, it's a little more challenging to feel connected to your co-workers. Dave and Nana discuss how important team bonding is and successful team bonding activities (like Fika).
Getting into management
Resources:
Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule by Paul Graham
Presentations Episode - Dev Sounds Podcast
Management books:
The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier
Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble and Gene Kim
Problem Solving
Have you ever gotten frustrated with yourself while trying to solve a programming problem? Dave and Nana talk about all things problem solving: debugging tips, rituals and habits to help you get out of a bad headspace, getting into a “flow” state (via the Breakout Principle), and more. This conversation is inspired by Dave’s blog post: https://www.scraggo.com/programming-with-more-ease/
Book Club: Think Like a Rocket Scientist
In this episode, we discuss the book: Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life by Ozan Varol. We saw lots of ways to apply what we learned in the book to software engineering and life.
Author link:
https://ozanvarol.com/books/
A quick summary:
“Through engaging stories to illustrate key concepts, Varol shares how to Launch, Accelerate, and Achieve. In Launch, he explores the topics of embracing uncertainty, reasoning from first principles, and thinking creatively. In Accelerate, he discusses how we can improve our abilities to solve problems. In Achieve, we learn how to respond to the flip-side outcomes of failure and success.”
credit: https://mentalpivot.com/book-notes-think-like-a-rocket-scientist-by-ozan-varol/
Presentations
Dave and Nana talk about their experiences giving presentations, and share tips along the way!
Where to give talks:
- Meeting with colleague(s)
- Tech Talk at your company
- Lunch n' Learn at your company
- Educational institutions like coding bootcamps
- Meetups like the CodePen meetup
- Streaming online as a Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc event
- Record and post on YouTube. After, promote through your blog or social media
Resources:
- Visualization for Presentation class - Kelogg - Prof. Steven Franconeri
- Situation Complication Resolution framework
- Tech Talk - How I'd Improve My Capstone Project (a Dave presentation)
Our Myers Briggs Types
Dave and Nana take the 16personalities.com test to discover their Myers Briggs Type Indicators.
Want to discover your 5 letters? Take the test here.
Learn more about Myers Briggs personality theory:
- https://www.16personalities.com/
- https://www.16personalities.com/articles/our-theory
- https://www.16personalities.com/articles/tactics-judging-vs-prospecting
- https://www.16personalities.com/articles/identity-assertive-vs-turbulent
Journaling
Dave and Nana discuss the ways they reflect on life via journaling.
The article we talked about: https://www.dickiebush.com/articles/My-10-go-to-reflection-questions
Resources for journaling:
- Notebooks
- Spreadsheets
- Blogging
- Hero’s journal: https://theherosjournal.co/
- The anti-Anxiety notebook: https://shop.therapynotebooks.com/products/the-anti-anxiety-therapy-notebook-retail
- Cornell note-taking applied to journaling: Leave room in the margin for notes. Leave room at the bottom for summarizing the entry.
- Dave's command line question app: https://github.com/scraggo/question-prompter/
Interviews
Dave and Nana talk about interviewing in the software engineering field.
Discussion points:
- How to navigate technical interview sessions
- Etiquette dos and donts as interviewees and interviewers
- Ensuring a candidate performs their best
- Managing nerves as interviewees and interviewers
- Being objective as an interviewer
Resources:
Working from home, 1 year later
Dave and Nana reminisce about their work from home year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some tips to adjust transitioning from office to remote:
- Establish your workspace to minimize distractions
- Have structure in your day to self manage productivity and focus
- Prioritize mental health and physical well being
- Communicate intentionally and share expectations
Our home office gear:
- Sit or stand while working: FLEXISPOT Height Adjustable Standing Desk Converter 35"
- Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Mic
Resumes
Dave and Nana talk about creating effective resumes in the software engineering field.
Discussion points:
- How to properly include "soft" skills (and what to leave out)
- The ill-effects of inconsistencies in font/layout
- What experiences are essential to list and which ones aren't
- When it's acceptable to be longer than one page
- Why you should use simple language instead of highfalutin words from a thesaurus
- What a CV is and why you should create one
- How to tailor your resume to the job you’re applying to
- and more!
References:
Music
Dave and Nana talk about their various experiences with music - learning, playing, performing, creating...you name it! Nana also surprises Dave during this episode.
Check out Dave's music (scraggo):
Music and drum learning tips
- Melodics - gamified learning https://melodics.com/ The best way to build your skills & confidence on your MIDI keyboard, pad controller, or electronic drum kit.
- Dave's music blog
Drum links
- Nandi Bushell vs Dave Grohl
- Taylor Hawkins drum masterclass
- Dave Grohl - Sound City
- Sober by Tool: Sober's Verse Groove Technique - Drum Lesson
- Drums: The Difference Between Jazz and Rock
- Fuel by Metallica
- Double pedal: Vinnie Paul footwork, omg
- Starting a song with a drum beat? Being conscious of rhythm during songwriting: Chick Corea Jazz Keyboard Demo — Rhythmic Displacement