Lightning Talk: Developing Developers

by Mike Gehard

The lightning talk "Developing Developers" by Mike Gehard at the Rocky Mountain Ruby 2011 event focuses on addressing the critical shortage of developers in the technology industry. Gehard begins with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, urging his audience to take personal responsibility for enacting change in this area. He highlights the pressing need for developers, noting that current efforts are insufficient to meet the growing demands in technology.

Key Points Discussed:

Importance of Action: Gehard questions the audience on what they intend to do about the shortage of developers, suggesting that the responsibility does not solely lie with schools and businesses.
Formation of the "Growing Programmers" Group: He shares an initiative that originated from a discussion on diversity, emphasizing collaboration among developers to address the shortage.
Mentorship Program: Gehard announces his plans to mentor a developer apprentice. This program is characterized by several requirements:
- The apprentice must not currently be employed in software development.
- They should take the initiative in their self-education and actively engage from provided resources.
- Each mentee is expected to eventually mentor someone else as part of a pay-it-forward philosophy.
Engaging Youth: He mentions the importance of introducing programming to children, citing Marty’s idea of mentoring students to spark their interest in technology, underlining that children are often quick learners with technology.

Conclusion:

Gehard challenges the audience to take proactive steps towards addressing the developer shortage and encourages them to engage with the "Growing Programmers" group for ideas and support.
He ends with an invitation for questions and a note about job opportunities at Living Social in Boulder. This succinct talk encourages a sense of community and personal accountability among developers, ultimately aiming to foster a new generation of programmers.

00:00:04.600 All right, so the title of my lightning talk is obviously "Developing Developers." There's my Twitter handle. I want to start out with one of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Does anybody disagree with this statement? Raise your hand. That's what I thought.

00:00:10.400 So my question to all of you is: what are you going to do about this? There's all this talk about how we’re short of developers, and businesses and schools need to step up. I don't think a lot of us agree with that. Obviously, some of you are gem maintainers, gem writers, and core contributors to many things, so you're used to stepping up and getting stuff done. I believe this is one of the biggest problems facing our industry, not just from the Ruby standpoint, but from technology in general. I think Aaron had a statistic last night that blew my mind, though I don't remember the exact details. The bottom line is we are not going to have enough people to do all of the cool things we need to do.

00:01:07.000 Last night, we started a discussion that began as a diversity discussion, but I kind of railroaded it into more of a conversation about what we can do about the shortage of developers. We started a Google group called the "Growing Programmers." Marty was nice enough to make the first post. So, my question is: what are we going to do about this? If you want to get involved, please join the Google group and get active.

00:01:12.840 I have decided that I am going to take action. I’m currently accepting applications—this is not an official job and you will not be getting paid. I am doing this in my free time for an apprentice. That apprentice must not currently have a job developing software and must be looking to get one. They must also be willing to drive their own education. A lot of the feedback I get from people is, "I want to learn Ruby, but I don't know where to start," or they say, "I’m just going to sit back and expect someone to guide me." I wish I had time for that, but unfortunately, I don’t.

00:02:10.440 So, this person must at least ask questions like, "Where do I start?" I will send you a bunch of links; you will go through those links and come back with more questions. I’m more than happy to navigate, but I cannot drive the bus. They also must be willing to mentor somebody else. This is a pay-it-forward process. If you become my mentee, you will be expected to eventually mentor someone else. Not immediately, but we'll work out the details. I hope to be a lineage holder, meaning I want to have a long line of people teaching others how to program.

00:03:03.640 I have no idea what this will look like; I literally came up with this idea in the shower this morning. I expect there will be blog posts, and I’m sure some people will get upset with me. There will be all kinds of interesting developments. That’s the challenge I want to leave all of you with. I have decided to step up, and I challenge each of you to go look at the group, pick one of the suggestions in the list, and take action.

00:03:15.920 And that's all I have. Are there any questions? I have one minute left. The group is called "Growing Programmers," and Marty came up with that name, which I think is awesome. I want to mention that one of the things discussed in the group is starting to mentor children. Marty has been talking about going into his daughter's school and working with kids to get them more interested in technology, which I believe is a fantastic idea. Hand a four-year-old an iPhone, and they can navigate it easily while my mother struggles with it. The kids are ready for this; we just need to get in there and guide them.

00:04:00.000 I'm going to wrap it up early because I’m done, unless anyone has further questions. Thank you, everyone! Oh, and just a side note—Living Social is hiring in Boulder, so please come talk to me if you’re looking for a job.