December 8, 2019

Newbies don’t

Castle

Diving into something new, you have to respect all that you don’t know.Put another way, when you work at or on something for a while, you develop domain knowledge. You know what you know and what you don’t. You appreciate the connections and the complexities. Naturally, you respect the limits and the limitations. Newbies don’t.

Knowing you’re a newbie, expect to be tripped up by the way the calendar works here, by the technology stack, by the received wisdom and exclusive lexicon.

Leave extra time. Make explicit attempts to under promise so you have room to over deliver. Take a step back. Read more than you would, think more, ask more questions, don’t accept assumptions without understanding the why.

The people around you know you’re a newbie. Don’t try to kid them, don’t pretend you know what you don’t. 

Skippy strategy: Open up your defences and ask the simple questions.

Category:
Skippiness