Healthy Developer

Trusting people is getting tougher than ever these days, and nobody seems to have a harder time than programmers and managers. In this episode, I'll teach you how to get some hard evidence to determine whether your manager is trustworthy or not. The goal is for you to find out YES and just have a healthy relationship with your manager. But if there are trust issues, you'll have some tough decision...

Just the name Tech Lead has this kind of prestigious ring to it, and if you're like most programmers you might think it's the job to shoot for. But 20 years of my career have been spent leading software teams, and you might be surprised to know that tech lead is actually the worst job for most programmers! Some of the information in this episode applies to IT professionals in any technical leaders...

As programmers, we often follow practices because of hidden desires - and "self-documenting code" is chief among them. In this episode I'd like to share some of the tradeoffs and implications of choosing to add comments to your code or not, to help you make the best decision for your software development career. When I first started developing software 25 years ago, the company I worked at mostly...

Ever wanted to do something new, or make a change on your software project - but other people on your team won't support you? Maybe you want to move from scrum to kanban, use a newer JavaScript framework like  remix , or if you're a UX designer introduce something like customer journey maps.  It would be nice to always have support from other people, but if you've never had pushback for one of you...

Many software development teams use an agile backlog but have NO business agility - and are actually using scrum with a waterfall mindset! When the product backlog is used on a scrum project and the business doesn't really understand agile, it wastes money and makes most programmers feel miserable!  In this episode, I share what I've learned about using agile methods with software teams that actua...

When programmers are forced to estimate code on software projects and they turn out wrong, who's to blame? Are there other reasons why estimating software development projects are so hard, that are outside the control of each programmer?  In this episode, I share some of the unique properties of estimating code, and why programming estimates are different than many other types of work. Most of it...

Every programmer seems to want to vomit the second they hear the word scrum. What is it about scrum that's made programmers hate coding so much, and how can you prevent this on your software development team In this episode, I share 7 reasons why programmers hate scrum, and how it makes our jobs nearly impossible on software projects where the scrum master, product owner (or product manager), and...

Professional habits are what makes the difference between someone who actually writes code like a senior programmer - and wishful thinking. The syntax and patterns you use on software projects don't matter nearly as much as the standards you hold yourself to for professionalism. In this episode, I share the essential habits I've developed while working on nearly software projects over my career. I...

I thought I knew what developers needed, but then I met over 200 people online to learn what unlocks their career. The results were surprising in some ways, and not in others. The first thing I learned was that having a plan for your career in software development is something programmers aren't getting enough help with. When I would need a new job, I often took the first reasonable offer instead...

It's tempting to compare yourself to other developers or take skill assessments to see how you measure up, but honestly it's impossible to truly know if you're a good programmer! In this video I share what I've learned over my 25 year career as a programmer, software architect, and consultant that I hope reduces any anxiety you may have around your self worth. To start this off: why do we even car...

The first software project of my career was a masterclass in surviving corporate politics that I'll never forget. Programming was the least of my problems! The perfect storm of addiction, deceit, and surviving a death in the family sent me into a downward spiral on this true story of a software project. In this story, I share the personal details of how my struggles with marijuana addiction and th...

There are tons of people online telling you how to get a better career in software development. Unfortunately, they usually tell you a fluffy story that glosses over the truth. In this episode, I share the 4 career desires of every software developer. This is a concept I discovered through career coaching other people in tech positions (developers, product managers, DevOps, data science, etc.) ove...

Get your tech career unstuck here: https://healthydeveloper.com/coaching   Are you looking around on your software project and just waiting to see someone fail? Are you quick to condemn a manager or developer and cast them useless after a single mistake? Today we're going to talk about how canceling developers and other IT professionals for mistakes can hold you back from the career you want in so...

Can you believe it's been 3 years since I made an episode? Yeah you can - you've been asking me to come back. Sorry! I just wasn't ready yet. I got clean from marijuana addiction in 2019 but it's taken me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get better. At least better enough to come back on YouTube. In the meantime, I've met with about 200 people all over the world to learn better how to help you with...

I've been working through anger issues after reflecting on the content I've put out there for people in the software industry.  I mostly avoided social media for the past 5-8 years and when I started putting my ideas out there, I bought into the "outrage culture". I also have been on many failed projects. And I've had personal problems with my family and identity. I made this video to apologize fo...

Scott Nimrod is an experienced Software Consultant based out of Miami who specializes in Test Automation, WPF, Functional Programming, and a variety of other technologies.  In this interview, Scott and I discuss the balance between strengthening your reputation through your personal brand as a developer, and the teamwork necessary to be successful in your career.  We also touch on concepts in the...

Working on a software development team where  everyone does their work separately  – and thinking of trying something new? Today I have a special guest, Woody Zuill, who is the leading voice in our industry around the concept of Mob Programming. If this is the first time you've heard of it, Mob Programming is essentially  an entire team working together with only one person's hands on the keyboard...

With all the challenges in the software industry with languages, frameworks, and processes...  It's easy to forget we're human.  I've been making some really serious level 301 agile nerdgasm content lately, so I made this episode to just have some fun.  Here are three stories of times I was embarrassed in my software development career.  Join my Patreon:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/patreon L...

Have you ever had to quit a good software project...because you figured out you weren't going to be successful in your role? I had the opportunity to help two consulting companies try and rescue a troubled software project for a client. Though I was originally brought in to help figure out how much work was left to do, I found myself in the position of being "the expert" once again. Because of pol...

Over my career I've seen many software projects fail spectacularly due to political infighting between team members. Blame-shifting and improper application of scrum got people fired on this one! I prefer a simple definition of politics: when people tell each other what they want to hear instead of the truth. I'd like to share the story of a software project I worked on, where the client was a non...

It's bad enough when you're working on a software project and you run into a problem. But it's even worse when you know  that problem might block other people from getting work done ! It's always blown my mind how some managers try to keep everyone working as if nothing's wrong when this happens. Software projects are getting more complicated every day and so it's easy to get to a point where you'...

One of the most frustrating software projects I've been on involved webcam spying and finding  the people who hired us rewrote our code ! A large company that bought out two young entrepreneurs hired me and other consultants to help them. But the entrepreneurs didn't really want help. Soon it was apparent that  they had no desire to listen to our advice , or treat our opinions as worth anything wh...

Over the years I've had to lead many software developers, and it's become much easier since letting go of being seen as "the expert". Even if I'm only leading a few people there's always too much work and I have to choose really carefully what I do. If you've watched any of my other videos you know I'm a big fan of teams where there's less management. But whether someone is officially recognized a...

Sometimes I get an opportunity to show a team how to use a technology that not only solves a business problem, but I really like! In this case it was continuous delivery to deploy business intelligence dashboards to production. When a client of mine was burned by a prior vendor that couldn't deliver their software project, they needed to see progress made quickly. The software product was supposed...

As you grow, it can be tempting to start comparing your career to other developers. It's only natural that as you notice other people getting promotions, recognition, and opportunities to lead exciting efforts – you consider: " Would I like that too? " But it's a slippery slope from discovering some new worthy goals to chasing someone else's! In this episode I share some ways I've come to cope wit...