5 Software Development Lessons From a Mountaineer
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The document outlines five software development lessons inspired by mountaineering experiences. Key lessons include the importance of fitness and preparation, choosing the right tools, establishing a working rhythm, maintaining momentum, and ensuring team well-being. These principles aim to enhance team performance and project success in software development.
5 Software Development Lessons From a Mountaineer
- 1. 5 Software Development Lessons From a Mountaineer Omar Bashir
- 2. Saltoro Kangari 7,742m peak in the Karakorams. First ascent in 1962 by a Pak-Japanese team. A. Saito (32), Y. Takamura (27) R. Bashir (24)
- 3. R. Bashir Resigned from his grad programme with the PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) to join this expedition. Serial adventurer. Settled down as an accomplished attorney.
- 4. 1. Work on Your Fitness “You must maintain your fitness. Take your training seriously and take every opportunity to retrain. You don’t train when your are going up a mountain, you do it before that. You won’t just need your fitness to go up a mountain but also to come back down”
- 5. Defining Fitness for Coders Developing a growth mindset. Building and improving problem solving skills. Practicing the craft. Increasing technical breadth. Staying in touch with the industry without drowning in information overload.
- 6. 2. Sort out the Gear “Choosing the right gear is not just about reaching the top but also making it back alive. Remember, you, not a porter, will have to carry your own gear up the ascent. So choose wisely”
- 7. Less is More Start with removing redundancies and unnecessary dependencies. Reduce and manage complexity and wastage. Understand how things work and why they don’t when they won’t.
- 8. 3. Build a Rhythm “Feeling tired, you only just started ! Keep going, you need to catch the second wind. Your body will then get into the rhythm it needs to keep you going”
- 9. Coding Rhythm Teams take some time to settle into projects. Getting used to technologies, domain, clients and other team members is challenging. Teams get their second wind after the first few iterations to develop a rhythm to deliver at a predictable pace.
- 10. 4. Maintain the Momentum “As you climb higher several factors will work against you. Tiredness will increase, oxygen will decrease. You will feel the need to rest more frequently. So try and maintain your initial momentum for as long as possible”
- 11. Cover the last mile all along Last mile issues can easily derail otherwise successful projects and break the momentum of productive teams. As a technology team nears the end of a project, risks increase. Start planning and incrementally executing integration, deployment and parallel test runs from the very beginning. This reduces the risk of loss of momentum as the team ascents.
- 12. 5. Look After Yourself and Your Team “Remain hydrated, nourished and rested. You are your own responsibility. Also, set a manageable pace for your team.”
- 13. Team Well Being Well being and working hard are not mutually exclusive. Plan the pace of projects to not let individual and team fatigue set in. Regularly working long hours impacts work-life balance causing fatigue and demotivation impacting team's momentum. So, plan smart for your team to work hard while still maintaining sociable hours.