For anyone in tech, being resourceful is very important. It's one of the traits that makes you very valuable by earning trust fast. Anyone in tech (whether developer or not) should strive for this adorable skill. It does not come on day 1, yet it's something that can be learnt over time.
So, what does resourcefulness mean in this context?
- Problem-Solving Ability: You don't wait for other people to give you a solution, rather you dabble with a problem and come up with solutions yourself. This includes breaking down a complex problem into smaller sub-problems and debugging issues in a methodical manner.
- Information Gathering: You know how and where to find information – documentation, internal wikis, forums (Stack Overflow, GitHub Issues), articles, source code, etc. You can sift through noise to find relevant details. Before asking other for help, you know how to find out any existing information if any. With the advent of AI enabled tools, it has become easier than ever to find information inside and outside an organization. So many companies use solutions like Glean which should be your first source of information.
- Asking Good Questions: No question is stupid question. Before asking any question, try to figure out as much as information as possible on the topic. If there are enough information and documentations already, probably you don't even need to ask any question. Else, reach out to people around, most often, people are much more helpful than you could expect them to be.
- Quick Learnability: You can quickly pick up new technologies, tools, or concepts when a project demands it. You can connect disparate pieces of information or past experiences to solve new problems. You can quickly orient yourself in unfamiliar codebases or system architectures.
- Experimentation: If the environment allows, in the face of ambiguity, you're willing to experiment and try different approaches (in a safe, controlled way) to see what works.
- Adaptability: Adaptability is very important for people at any level - both in personal and professional life. However, as you grow to a senior role, it becomes even more important. Example: Working with Constraints: You can find ways to deliver value even when faced with limitations in time, budget, technology, or available expertise. Handling Ambiguity: You're comfortable operating in situations where requirements are not perfectly defined or when facing unknown unknowns.
- Learning from Failures: You see setbacks as learning opportunities and can adapt your approach based on what didn't work. Of course, your organization has to support a culture where the failure is not completely blamed on you.
- Collaboration and Networking: You maintain good relationship with people from other teams or even external community. You have a network of peers especially inside the organization where you know what's going on in their team, in the broader organization overall. Effectively, you possibly help your peers (from other teams) in some project to earn their trust, build long lasting relationship and you can leverage that relationship when you drive some cross-functional project. Also, resourceful developers often share their findings and solutions, contributing back to the collective knowledge pool.
- Pragmatism and Efficiency: You understand the importance of delivering a working solution and can prioritize pragmatism over perfection when necessary, especially under pressure. You can devise temporary or tactical solutions to unblock progress while a more permanent fix is being developed, clearly understanding and communicating the trade-offs. You don't reinvent the wheel if a suitable solution or library already exists.
Essentially, a resourceful developer:
- Doesn't get stuck easily.
- Is self-sufficient but knows when and how to seek help effectively.
- Turns challenges into opportunities to learn and grow.
- Adds significant value by unblocking themselves and often others.
