I’ve been debating asking this question for some time. Based several of the comments I read in this question I decided I had to ask.
This feels like I’m stating the obvious, but I believe that regular reading (of books, blogs, StackOverflow, whatever) and/or practice are required just to stay current (let alone excel) in whichever stack you use to pay the bills, not to mention playing with things outside your comfort zone to learn new ways of doing things.
Yet, I virtually never see this from many of my peers. Even when I go out of my way to point out useful (and almost always free) learning material, I quite often get a sense of total apathy from those I’m speaking to.
I’d even go so far as to say that if someone doesn’t try to improve (or at least stay current), they’ll atrophy as technology advances and actually become less useful to the company.
I don’t expect people to spend hours a day studying or practicing. I have two young kids and hours of practice simply aren’t feasible. Still, I find some time; perhaps on the train, at lunch, in bed for a few minutes, whatever.
I’m willing to believe this is arrogance or naivete on my part, but I’d like to hear what the community has to say.
So here’s my question: Should I expect (and encourage) the same from my peers, or just keep my mouth shut and do my own thing?
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I’d even go so far as to say that if someone doesn’t try to improve
(or at least stay current), they’ll atrophy as technology advances and
actually become less useful to the company.
That’s not your problem. How (and whether) you choose to grow intellectually is your business; how (and whether) your colleagues choose to grow intellectually is theirs. How’d you like it if the guy in the next cube decided that because studying music or a foreign language or mathematics changed his worldview in a way that helped him professionally, you should do it too?
If these folks work for you rather than with you, and if you decide to make continuing education one of the boxes to be ticked at a performance review or just something that you want to encourage, that’s one thing. If these folks work with you rather than for you, then you should feel free to say: “hey guys, look at this great article I found — I think the ideas in here could work really well on our project,” but leave it at that. Beyond that, if you don’t like how your coworkers maintain their skills you should consider finding some coworkers that are more compatible with your values.
It’s illogical to expect the improbable. Most professional developers do very little outside reading. You should encourage your peers to read more, but most won’t. You can stay in this group and accept your colleagues as they are, or try to find employment with a company or team that hires more selectively.
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It is reasonable for a programmer to practice and learn above and beyond one’s “day job”, but if you work at the average company, it is not probable that many programmers will do so.
My experience is that I am grateful to those who encouraged me to go above and beyond “average”.
If you have not already read it, I recommend Robert (Bob) Martin’s Clean Coder book.
You should certainly encourage it. Consider the position pretty much any teacher is in: a roomful of students, most of whom don’t really want to be there, just hoping to get by. Some may be enthusiastic on your subject, but they are the minority.
That said, teachers are valuable–you will reach some of them. If you’re really enthusiastic about something new, it can wear off on people. So keep trying. Just know it’s an uphill battle.