May 21st: Can there be compassion in code?
Compassion is defined as feeling or showing empathy and concern for others. It literally means “to suffer together,” and amongst researchers, is known as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and then feel compelled to relieve it.
Though I hope you’ve never experienced any form of suffering throughout your career, it is likely you’ve witnessed or have been subjected to something unpleasant. Whether it be difficult managers, inconsiderate coworkers, or environments that inadvertently limit personal development, the lack of compassion can have a lasting affect.
No industry is immune, but throughout my 25+ years in the tech space, I’ve seen real progress. From open floor-plans to open source, the passion for technological advancement has fostered immense collaboration and compassion. Last week, InRhythm’s Sr. Director of Engineering, Brian Olore, discussed how to apply compassion to coding, and his take on it really hit home.
“A lot has changed since I started coding. It’s no longer just the sole developer in the basement writing thousands of lines of code. It’s become much more of a collaborative initiative where we’re documenting and sharing information to help advance each other and the industry. Compassionate coding demonstrates how to use empathy to take a people centric approach to things, which makes it more fun and gives us the resources to improve.”
How have you been able to apply compassion to your work environment? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog.
Thanks and Keep Growing,
Gunjan Doshi
CEO, InRhythm
Thanks and Keep Growing,
Gunjan Doshi
CEO, InRhythm
Compassionate Coding with Brian Olore
(52 min. video)
“A lot has changed since I started coding. It’s no longer just the sole developer in the basement writing thousands of lines of code. It’s become much more of a collaborative initiative where we’re documenting and sharing information to help advance each other and the industry. Compassionate coding demonstrates how to use empathy to take a people centric approach to things, which makes it more fun and gives us the resources to improve.“If you heard of PWAs, you also heard of service workers, but what are they, how do they work, and what does it have to with anything?”
What We’re Reading Around the Web
How Does Emotional Intelligence Help Me?
(3 min. read)
Forbes
“While the competition for specialists in fast developing engineering and computing disciplines has never been more demanding, companies – especially in tech – believe that emotional intelligence matters.”
Code Read for Compassion at Glasgow’s Impact Summit
(5 min. read)
The Herald
“We’re talking about ethics and artificial intelligence, but we’re dealing with people that focus on the machines and logic. It can be tough to get them to hear about ethics when sometimes they don’t even care about the person sitting next to them. Or in some cases themselves.”
On Combating Resistance as a Technology Lead
(3 min. read)
Technically Philly
“We need to create a climate that welcomes change or we are wasting our time and theirs,” he said. To do that, the innovative among us need to work hard on empathy. To make great change inside organizations requires persistence, a perspective shift and a bit of courage. But it can have profound impact — and it’s lots of fun.”
The Secret of High Performance Teams
(3 min. read)
DEV
“You may be tempted to look at a block of code and go “That’s wrong” such an action will close off the discussion. They might listen to what you’re saying and just fix it with what you wanted, but they aren’t listening as closely anymore. Especially if this is the kind of behavior they’ve come to expect. You don’t want to close off the discussion.”
