When I was working as a designer at an agency, I always tried to edit my work at least three times before the submission deadline. I think most of my colleagues did the same, except along with the final draft, I also attached the 3-5 rough drafts that came before it. I did this precisely because I wanted to document an accurate developmental map for myself and others. It’s all part of my philosophy in life: showing honesty in work, the natural progression from flawed to decent, from 0 to 100.
My old habit of preserving rough drafts and sharing them with people never stopped after I pivoted into software development. And the reason is simple. I don’t think my generation has seen enough of the rough drafts of others to feel comfortable to get past the imposter syndrome.
When people ask me how I became a "good" developer, I tell them two things: first, that I am still learning and second, that I struggled a lot (I still do) and had put in a lot of hours to get to where I am today. Afterwards, I direct them to my earlier projects and tell them that my developmental map is there. My wish is that other people do the same. Share your early works, so that fewer people would have to make any leap of faith to understand that your lives work in much the same way as theirs; it's just that all of us are in different stages.
Warmly,
DH - your coding buddy
Top comments (1)
I really like this strategy DH and rare in my experience. Maybe your developmental map will show the common mistakes you made during your journey so others can learn to avoid or overcome the same?