How getting your hands dirty with code makes you a better business leader @ Vlerick Code Camp
- 1. “How getting your hands dirty with code makes you a better business leader.” - Linde Vloeberghs March 2018
- 2. Why are you here? “to broaden your perspective on business, develop well-rounded knowledge and skill-set to maximise your future career opportunities” GENERAL MANAGEMENT includes technology, data & change… and how these impact people
- 3. Why am I here? ● Business Engineer @ KULeuven ● Solo adventure & meditation in India ● Analyst & Program Manager @ HP LINDE VLOEBERGHS lindevloeberghs@me.com ● Coding Bootcamp @ LeWagon ● Back-End Web Developer @ startups & Ruby on Rails Teacher @ LeWagon ● Digital Transformer & Connector @ Hifluence, Data Science Leuven, ...
- 4. Why was coding my best career move so far? " Abundance: the Linkedin craze for ‘bridges’ ● Competitive advantage: scarcity of ‘the crazy’ " Turning tables: I decide - don’t put me in a box ● Learning eagerness & Agility ● Freedom for entrepreneurship ● Job security ● Flexibility: future working arrangements ● Always a job you love Photo: Source
- 5. What will I talk about today? ➔ Changing world requires different thinking - and how coding helps you to: ◆ See the same world differently & see new parts of it ◆ Gain more self-awareness & confidence ◆ Innovate and create ◆ Become a better problem-solver and decision-maker ◆ Become a better, more human leader ➔ Besides a tech mindset, focus on how people work together: ◆ Future-proof organisation structures & operation systems ◆ Personal consciousness
- 6. Changing World Imagination Economy “intuitive and creative thinking create economic value, after logical and rational thinking have been outsourced” Photo: Source
- 7. Changing Education Teach “to invent, to create, and to discover”, to fill the needs of the world that machines can’t. 4 cognitive capacities ● Critical thinking ● Systems thinking ● Entrepreneurship ● Cultural agility 3 literacies ● Data literacy ● Technological literacy ● Human literacy learning methods: ● Experiential, project-based: learning by doing
- 8. Understanding Technology “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Knowledge & Way of thinking
- 9. Change your thinking "Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer; because it teaches you how to think." "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." - Einstein Photo: Source
- 10. See the world differently “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust Discover new layers… . ● Assumptions are everywhere ● Nothing is simple Rediscover appreciation ● Rediscover happiness :) Photo: Source
- 11. Know what you don’t know "The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing.” - Socrates Programming is hard. ● Respect the expert advice ● Know when to shut up ● A developer is not a commodity Photo: Source
- 12. Details Matter “ I don’t care. Just make it work.” Exercise Draw a bike!
- 13. Details Matter “ I don’t care. Just make it work.” Exercise Draw a bike! “the illusion of explanatory depth” or the bias to believe we understand how familiar phenomena work far better than we actually do
- 14. Details Matter “ I don’t care. Just make it work.” Exercise Draw a bike! So does curiosity.
- 15. Curiosity => Innovation “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” - Steve Jobs “Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.” ● new ways of thinking ● cross-pollination ● serendipity ● ask good questions -> common language See opportunities. . Photo: Source
- 16. Creativity “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality”
- 17. Creativity “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality” getting your hands dirty gets you into the creator’s mindset
- 18. Let’s talk about Problem-Solving & Decision-Making Outside the box thinking Assumption thinking Abstract thinking Logical thinking Scenario thinking Big picture thinking Grit Confidence Collaborative thinking Root cause thinking Modular thinking Data thinking Pragmatic thinking Long term thinking Agile thinking MVP thinking Result thinkingValue thinking Reusability thinking Critical thinking
- 19. Grit & Confidence “What I found is that by teaching them to code I had socialized them to be brave. Coding, it's an endless process of trial and error (...). It requires perseverance. It requires imperfection.” - Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code
- 20. Grit & Confidence ● take risks ● try more than once (trial-and-error) ● see failures as steps on the path to success ● => better results who code
- 21. Grit & Keeping Calm
- 22. Grit & Keeping Calm don’t panic; focus and read the error message follow the trace and learn
- 23. Confidence & Abstract Thinking don’t get lost
- 24. Logical Thinking ● Structured thinking ● Scenario Thinking: ‘Mutually Exclusive & Collectively Exhaustive’ 'Users are stupid’: include non-happy paths
- 25. ● Hypothetical thinking: if … -> “what if?” ● Assumption Thinking Logical Thinking ● Structured thinking ● Scenario Thinking: ‘Mutually Exclusive & Collectively Exhaustive’ 'Users are stupid’: include non-happy paths I . PSEUDO C O D E
- 26. “Build a web application to bring people in the city of Antwerp together around books” Analytical Thinking break down the big problem and solve many little problems instead “Find the lowest and highest mark in a class”: ● Read in the marks. ● Sort the marks into ascending order. ● Print out the first mark and the last. Big problem: Profits are down revenues down costs up volumes down prices down churn up growth down ... algorithm program ? Complex software programs, how do various applications interact, ... architecture
- 27. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing MVP with clear goal: test the “neighbours want to borrow and lend books” - hypothesis T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 28. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing ● as a user, I can see the BookMine project info on the homepage (without log in) ● as a user, I can register if I live in Antwerp, and need to upload at least one book ● as a registered user, I can see and edit my personal profile ● as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf ● as a registered user, I can browse through books from my neighbours ● as a registered user, I can search for books from my neighbours ● as a registered user, I can click on a book and see the details on the book’s page ● as a registered user, I can send a request to borrow a book from my neighbour ● as a registered user, I can approve or deny a borrow request received for my book ● as a registered user, when I sent a borrow request and it has been approved, I can send a message to the book owner (‘lender’) to discuss when/where to pick it up ● as an admin, I can see a dashboard with the analytics of the BookMine project ● ... MVP with clear goal: test the “neighbours want to borrow and lend books” - hypothesis Step 2: translate to user storiesT A L K B U S I N E S S P E N & P A P E R
- 29. ● button ‘add new book to bookshelf’ ● page with form to search for book in Antwerp Library database ● search calls Antwerp Library API (work with their IT department) ● show matching books cover ● user can select a found book -> details loaded automatically (API) ● or can upload a new book -> details need to be uploaded manually ● after book details confirmed: popup with reason form ‘why did you like this book? why would you recommend it to your users?’ ● after reason entered, uploaded book visible on bookshelf Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing “as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf” Step 2: translate to user stories Step 3: define the specific requirements for each user story & break it down into smaller steps P E N & P A P E R T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 30. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing “as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf” Step 2: translate to user stories Step 3: define the specific requirements for each user story & break it down into smaller steps I . PSEUDO C O D E P E N & P A P E R T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 31. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing “as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf” Step 2: translate to user stories Step 3: define the specific requirements for each user story & break it down into smaller steps I . PSEUDO C O D E Step 4: break it down further Write it all down. Now focus on the first step. P E N & P A P E R T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 32. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing “as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf” Step 2: translate to user stories Step 3: define the specific requirements for each user story & break it down into smaller steps I . PSEUDO C O D E Step 4: break it down further Write it all down. Now focus on the first step. P E N & P A P E R Step 5: build it Focus on the first step. T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 33. Building Web Applications - Step 1: scope the thing “as a registered user, I can upload a new book to my bookshelf” Step 2: translate to user stories Step 3: define the specific requirements for each user story & break it down into smaller steps I . PSEUDO C O D E Step 4: break it down further Write it all down. Now focus on the first step. P E N & P A P E R C O D E Step 5: build it Move one level up and look at the next step. Focus on the first step. T A L K B U S I N E S S
- 39. Modular Thinking Photo: Source Photo: Source ● Break things down ● See the layers ● Take baby steps See how the whole consists of pieces
- 40. Modular Thinking Photo: Source ● Isolation & Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY): ■ Write code once, use it often ■ Change code in one place, see the change everywhere ● Reusability & mix ‘n match ● Code Reuse: don’t reinvent the wheel Build things by putting pieces together
- 41. Modular Thinking Photo: Source ● Isolation & Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY): ■ Write code once, use it often ■ Change code in one place, see the change everywhere ● Reusability & mix ‘n match ● Code Reuse: don’t reinvent the wheel Build things by putting pieces together
- 42. Big Picture or and Detail Thinking remember where you’re going Photo: Source
- 44. Long-Term Thinking think about next steps & scalability
- 45. ● code readability " write tests " write good commit messages " automate things " refactor: improve the readability and modularity of your code later Long-Term Thinking Do it properly now & thank yourself later. Photo: Source No, you won’t remember.
- 46. code readability ● make things explicit ● naming things is hard! ● indentation/formatting ● comments <=> added value ● functions do one thing ● minimize nested if’s ● respect the line length (80 chars) Long-Term Thinking
- 47. code readability ● make things explicit ● naming things is hard! ● indentation/formatting ● comments <=> added value ● functions do one thing ● minimize nested if’s ● respect the line length (80 chars) Long-Term Thinking
- 48. Assume Continuous Change Like software, an organisation is never “ready”
- 49. Assume Continuous Change ● single truth with change log: version control ● changeability: agile -> modularity, isolation, DRY, readability ● “start small, think big”: lean -> value thinking, customer focus Like software, an organisation is never “ready”
- 50. Quarterly Sales Operations Report Q1’18 - final - V2.2 (11032018).xlsx Version Control
- 52. Understanding Implications ● reflects the implied cost of additional rework, caused by choosing an easy solution now, instead of using a better approach that would take longer ● tradeoff between short-term and long-term value ● reasons: - budget & time constraints - miscommunication: short-term specs => often: 'business' not code-literate cutting corners... ! Technical debt:
- 53. Software as a Liability Seriously. “Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.” - Bill Gates The best code is no code at all. Seriously. Less code = better.
- 54. Tech Literate Leadership “Learning to code has taught me to think like a developer and made me a better CEO. Thanks to my coding experience, I deeply understand the strategic importance of technical decisions related to our IT architecture, as well as the technical implications of business decisions.” Photo: Source Jonathan Cornelissen Co-Founder and CEO
- 55. Future-Proof Leadership ● Better decisions: ■ understand business & IT interaction: common language ■ agility: optimize for change; plan for progressive insights ■ from ego- to purpose- & data-driven ● Recruitment of tech profiles ● People management: ■ connect & communicate in common language ■ from (micro)managing to servant leadership & trust ■ involve tech teams: co-create, don’t throw specs over the wall " Partnerships: optimize for creating value; collaborate don’t compete I . PSEUDO C O D E
- 56. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." Future-Proof Team Work Team effectiveness Project Artistotle by Google Photo: Source
- 57. 3 Pillars of Digital Transformation Technology ● Digitization ● Ecosystems & co-creation Teal Organisation Structure & Culture Wholeness, Self-Management, Purpose Personal Transformation Ego & Consciousness "Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change." - Stephen Hawking Photo: Source
- 58. Wrapping Up Photo: Source World today needs change in how we think. ● how we create and innovate ● how we solve problems ● how we make decisions " how we work together " how we lead ● how we cope with change, both professionally and personally
- 59. Wrapping Up Photo: Source World today needs change in how we think. ● how we create and innovate ● how we solve problems ● how we make decisions " how we work together " how we lead ● how we cope with change, both professionally and personally Coding is an amazing path to get there. So is collaboration with people.