A passion for programming. Chapter 14. Be a Mentor

I also join the crowdsourcing translation of The Passionate Programmer by Chad Fowler . Edits and comments on the translation are welcome.

Thanks to WarAngel_alk for the content:


< 13. Find a mentor | Chapter 15. Practice, practice, practice >
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If you really want to learn something, try teaching someone else to do it. There is no better way to consolidate your knowledge than to force yourself to formulate it to someone else so that they can be understood. The usual formulation of something is a popular means for “cleansing” the mind. Communicating with dolls or other inanimate objects as a way of solving problems is a fairly well-known element of programmer folklore.

To see if you really know anything, try teaching someone else to do it.

I saw Martin Fowler ^[1] during his speech to an audience of developers in Bangalore that he wrote about it whenever he really wanted to know something. Martin Fowler is a well-known software developer and author. One could even say that he is one of the most famous and important teachers that this industry has to offer, if we consider its author’s role as a remote teacher and mentor ^[2] .

We learn by teaching. This is ridiculous, as we expect that the teacher already knows something. Of course, I do not mean that you can learn completely new facts by teaching them someone - where can they come from? But, knowing the facts is not the same thing as understanding their essence, causes and effects ^[3] . This is a kind of deeper understanding, which is formed during the training of others. We are looking for analogies to formulate a complex concept, and we are working on the reasons why one analogy, it would seem, should work, but does not work, and another analogy, it seems, should not work, but it works. When you train you have to answer questions that you have never had. Through training, we eliminate the gaps in our knowledge.

So, just as you can find a mentor and get help, you can benefit from being a mentor to someone else.

Mentoring also has positive social effects. An intersecting group of mentors and their wards creates a dense and powerful social network. Communication mentor-ward is quite strong, so the relationship in such a professional network is more connected than the relationship of more passive acquaintances (note lane - mean familiar in ordinary social networks). When you are in a mentoring relationship with someone, you build interdependence with each other. A network of this kind is a great place to solve complex problems or to find work.

As a rule, mentors are not fired.

You also should not underestimate the fact that helping people is just plain good. If you manage to take into account the interests of others, you have actually done something altruistic with your skills. In the conditions of modern economic instability, helping someone, generally speaking, is a job that cannot be fired. And it is paid in a currency that does not depreciate with inflation.

Look for the wards not just presenting yourself as a guru, but being prepared and willing to patiently share this knowledge. Do not be alarmed if you are not an absolute expert in the subject matter. There is every chance that you have some experience that will help someone less experienced. Find this experience and start being useful.

For example, you might have been able to do a lot of work related to PHP. You can join a local PHP user group meeting and offer to help less experienced users with their specific problems. Or, if you do not have an available forum for organizing individual mentoring, you can simply start answering questions on some online bulletin board (note - it seems, about stackoverflow.com or something like that) or IRC- channel or help people discover / fix problems in their applications. Keep in mind, however, that mentoring is for people. Online interaction can never be compared with the real interaction of people.

You do not need to establish a formal mentoring relationship to gain these benefits. Just start helping people, the rest will follow ^[4] .

Guide to action:

1. Find someone you can take under your wing. You may find someone younger and with less experience in your company, perhaps a student intern. Or, you can talk to someone from the IT / IP department at a local university and offer your mentorship to students ^[5] .
2. Find an online forum and select a topic. Start helping someone. Become famous for your desire and ability to patiently help people learn.

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1. Martin fowler
2. [...]
3. [...] their causes and ramifications.
4. [...] and the rest will come naturally.
5. [...] volunteer to mentor a college student.

PS: join the github translation!