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Discussion on: What Not to Do as a Programmer - My List After 2 Years of Working In Teams

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tijmenvanderkemp profile image
Tijmen van der Kemp

I agree with all of your points, but regarding nr 7 (don't point fingers):
We don't blame people externally, so we take responsibility as a team, but we do find out who did it internally and explain what went wrong to them, so that they don't do make the mistake again. If you can always do this in a playful/constructive way, you're an excellent team.

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guitarkat profile image
Kat • Edited

Fair, but usually the person has to accept the responsibility of their part. I'm responsible for my code. If you are honest with yourself, it's easy to say "Sorry guys, I screwed up", but I have felt in some places that it was unsafe to do so, which is unfortunate because it prevents people from taking responsibility, because they are shamed or judged upon it.

Currently I feel safe saying I screwed up and it really helps. You also have more mental room to catch things before they become bigger issues down the line.... I consider it a very important part of culture.

I've found making it safe for people to report issues or safe for saying "I screwed up" helps the team. :)

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haseebelaahi profile image
Haseeb • Edited

Great points Kat!

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yuripredborskiy profile image
Yuri Predborskiy

This is excellent. I wish I could apply this approach in every company where I work. It doesn't help if we don't investigate the mistake and don't try to learn from it.

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haseebelaahi profile image
Haseeb

Totally agree with your point. Understanding your mistakes and not making those again is how you grow as a professional.

I think what I wanted to say is that in time of crisis or failure it is not nice to have a culture of throwing the blame off your shoulders and on others. Definitely, a good practice to have a calm and cool discussion later to find out what went wrong and who was at the heart of it.