E1
- 24:50: Kiely tells Ted if he goes on Twitter, he should avoid various hashtags. Avoid toxic criticism. Some people will have feedback that isn’t helpful and is just designed to bring you down. Learn to separate that from substantive feedback and don’t internalize that stuff.
- 25:30: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” This is dangerous for web developers because we’re already immersed in a culture of overwork. I prefer a slight tweak: the more opportunities you create, the luckier you get. If you apply for one job, you’re not likely to get lucky, but if you apply for a thousand, you are.
E2
- 0:20: Ted pours his cereal into a bowl. It’s shredded wheat, and a single giant piece comes out into his bowl. He eats it and goes on about his day. Embrace the fish out of water. Learn as you go. Be OK with it.
- 1:20: “Sometimes the best way to stick it to the man is to go right between his legs.” If you want to get a job, make a job. Don’t wait for a gatekeeper to give it to you.
- 5:50: Sam gets insulted by Jamie. Ted calls him over afterward and asks him, “What is the happiest animal on earth?” It’s a goldfish because their memory lasts 10 seconds. He tells him to be a goldfish. You have to find a way to forget your rejections while still learning from them. Learn from them without chasing every new and shiny thing that comes along.
- 9:50: Kiely asks Ted and Rebecca which animal they would be between a lion and a panda. They give their answers. Jamie leaves. Ted asks Jamie. Jamie replies, “I’m me. Why would I want to be anything else?” Don’t chase every new technology. Yes, learn new things. Yes, grow. But lean into your strengths. You don’t have to be every other thing.
- 13:20: Nate works with his niece to create decorated boxes for various uses around the locker room: a suggestion box and another to collect donations for Sam’s birthday. This is a weird thing to do, and I love how both Nate and Ted lean into it. Ted doesn’t make fun of Nate like the others do. He admires him for going out on a limb. Embrace your weird. It makes you stand out. Makes you memorable. Don’t try to be something else for the interview or to get a freelance gig. You’ll get better work by being you. Unless you’re a jerk. Then you could try being someone else.
- 23:55: Ted tells Jamie he is great at everything he does, except one thing. Jamie thinks it’s because of a soccer skill he’s weak at. Ted doesn’t care about that. It’s Jamie’s selfishness. Soft skills are important. No, they’re critical. That’s on any team, not just a sports team.
E3
- Rewatch 8:30- Outsider art about your career
- 21:00: The best way to deal with people who are wrong about you is by showing them they’re wrong. This is what Ted does with Trent. (He’s also doing it with everyone else, but this instance with Trent is on a compressed timeline.) He can’t convince him. He’s already made his mind up. The only thing he can do is give him new evidence. This is why your resume will never get you a job but actual work will.
- 19:00: Be genuine with people, even if they have power over you (boss or client). Keeley figures out this is how she should be treating Rebecca. You’re hired to be you, to use your expertise, to be “a big prickly” and push back when they’re about to do the wrong thing.
- 24:00: Go into new things without fear. Ted does this with the Indian food. You’ll get used to this as you work more because you’ll have to practice it so much. You’ll be learning new tech, figuring out legacy systems, reading code from poorly documented libraries.
- 27:00: Take responsibility. Figure out what has to be done and get it done yourself. This is what Roy figures out as he’s reading A Wrinkle in Time to his niece. Doesn’t matter that not every piece of that is writing code, and it doesn’t mean you have to be hands-on with everything. You can act as your own mini project-manager though and push other parts of the project along (if you don’t have someone dedicated to doing that for you; if you do, communicate with them and tell them what you need). If you can be the one that gets stuff done, you’ll be loved and valued everywhere you go.
E4
- Start: Remember, even when you get frustrated with the people you’re working with that you’re all working toward the same goal.
- 5:00: Appreciate people. It helps in a lot of ways. It helps you feel better about them and them feel better about you. That makes working together easier.
- 6:55: Tell people what they need to know to do better and do it with kindness. Make it easy for people to tell you the things you need to know to improve by thanking them and taking their feedback seriously. Sometimes it’s wrong, but a lot of times it’s not. If you respond poorly when you receive the criticism, think on it. If you come around, tell them you did and thank them. Better late than never.
- 10:00: Find common ground and use that to work with people, even when you don’t like them. This is the advice Ted gives Roy and Jamie. It’s necessary for any kind of team.
- 12:30: Things will change. Rebecca does a pretty good job handling Rupert showing up even though it’s pretty much the worst thing that could have happened. Projects are de-prioritized or killed, changed completely right when you have momentum, teams are shifted… it can be frustrating. Go with it. Your career as a developer will be a lot easier if you embrace the change.
- 16:55: Be ready to play to your strengths and defer to others in theirs. Rupert takes over as auctioneer even though it’s “Rebecca’s night” because he’s better at it.
- 20:30: You don’t have to be perfect. Even in the workaholic culture that is software engineering, you still need to acknowledge you’re a human if you want to have staying power. By showing vulnerability, Rebecca allows Ted to understand what she’s feeling. You don’t have to share your innermost secrets, but make sure you’re not just trying to hold it down.
- 28:30: Ted finds a busker to replace Robbie Williams as the entertainment for the fundraiser. I talked about change as it relates to projects once you get hired, but it applies to your whole career. This reminds me of my time applying for jobs I would never be able to get. I started doing freelancing. It wasn’t what I wanted. Wasn’t what I expected. It was the “Cam Cole” of my career – a poor substitute for the real thing. Just like Cam Cole, though, it turned out better than I could ever have imagined.
- 32:00: “Being accountable matters.” This is the reason Keeley gives Jamie for apologizing to Roy. If you screw up, own up to it. You don’t protect your reputation by pretending you didn’t make a mistake. You build a reputation you want by admitting your mistakes and making them right. This is true as a web developer and in life.
E5
- 4:28: Ted: “Practice is canceled.” Know when not to work. Work isn’t everything, and you won’t succeed at life by working all the time.
- 21:10: Ted benches Jamie just after he scores. If you’re not a team player, you’re going to be benched. When you’re an employee, that means you’ll eventually be fired. When you’re a contractor, you won’t come back for the next contract. If you do, the team as a whole is worse for it. No matter how great you are, you’re not as good as your entire team. If they can’t read your code, if you’re not communicating, if you go off and make decisions that affect everyone, if you change the linter settings on the project because you prefer tabs to spaces (or vice versa), you’re done.
- 27:40: Ted tells his wife he wouldn’t change anything, but that he knows he can’t fix their relationship. Sometimes you have to let go of the job you’ve had or a client. Be glad for the good experiences you had. It made you better, but don’t stick around when things are not working.
E6
- 7:20: Ted: “Let’s be sure to help Danny get acclimated. The first time in this league can be very overwhelming.” Danny doesn’t seem to need help, but other developers might. What can you do to help? You might need to pair with other developers to help them get acclimated with a new project. Document projects so it’s easy for other developers to contribute. Think about your builds and development environments too. Docker is great to smooth this out for developers.
- 21:15: Sam: “I really like the idea of someone getting rich because of what they gave to the world, not because of who their family is.” This is the promise of being a developer. You don’t have to have a fancy college education that people can only afford because their family is already rich. There’s more meaning in here too though. Sam says they get rich “because of what they give to the world” not because someone took a chance on them. That means you need to give first. Think about what that means as you’re trying to transition to a new career and a better life.
- 14:30: Ted procrastinating signing his divorce papers. Don’t put off the stuff you don’t want to do. It doesn’t get any easier, and it doesn’t go away. Bite the bullet and get it done. You’ll like yourself better once you do. You’ll free yourself up to move on.
- 16:38: Your ideas are good. Share them (even when they’re critical)! That’s why you’re getting paid. If you’re not getting paid yet, that’s why you will get paid. Don’t be shy or embarrassed. You won’t always be right, but you need to be heard!
- 22:10: Karaoke outing after the win. Bond with the people you work with. It doesn’t have to be karaoke. It can just be a few sentences asking about something not work related before you get into the work stuff. It’s important to bond with your team so that you work better together and so that you’re top of mind when there are new opportunities. If you’re freelancing, not doing this will sink your business. Even introverts can do it. (I know because I’m one of them.)
E8
- 24:20: “Be curious, not judgmental” is one of Ted’s favorite quotes by Walt Whitman. Developers get really precious about their code and their beliefs about what is best. Lose your ego and be open to solutions that are not yours. Be open to refactoring code you wrote because it doesn’t work anymore or never did.