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All right, this is your second talk of the day. If you attended the first talk, please raise your hand. Congratulations, good job, nice work! Thank you, parrot.
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Okay, let's get started. Here's the deal: I like to capture every moment I can. So, I need you all to scoot in a bit so I can take a picture with you all. I'm going to burn a little time, so I need you to slide in this way and get comfortable. We're all attendees; we know each other loosely, and we're going to get a photo together.
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Come on, hurry! I only have 40 minutes. Give me your most excited energy! Ready, and go! That's good. Don't go back to your seats; you can stay right where you're at!
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You won't need your laptop, trust me. You won't even need a pad of paper, and these are all being recorded anyway, so you're in luck.
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To get some formalities out of the way, my name is Adam Cuppy. I work for a company called Zeal, which is a web and mobile applications consultancy. We work with many teams all over the country, including those with less experienced engineers, senior-level engineers, interns, and apprentices.
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During this time, I discovered a few common things among those who had less experience and those who had more. That's what this talk is about. We're going to discuss confidence, and I'm assuming you read what this was going to be called: Mechanically Confident.
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Before we get too far, when we think about confidence, what typically happens is step one: believe in yourself. Step two: you're confident, right? That's the basic mechanics. Just believe it—but I couldn't love this idea and I don't know if you're like me, but I often felt a bit like, 'Go tell yourself!'
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There is more to confidence than simply believing in it. I've been an actor for twenty years, longer than I've been a software developer, and there's one question I get asked more than any other: 'Do you get stage fright?' The answer is, yes, every time. But that doesn't matter because we have ways of ensuring that the moment we step onto the stage, that ingrained ability kicks in.
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So, let's talk about conscious confidence first, which is what you think about. Most of us experience this multiple times in our lives—some things may be smaller or less relevant, and others much bigger. Conscious confidence is what you're aware of. Certain things I am really good at, while there are others where I may not believe as strongly.
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How many of you have been driving a car for longer than a year? Raise your hand if that's you. About five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Many of us have driven a lot. We're familiar with this setup: steering wheel, navigation. Recently, I had a cool opportunity to speak at the Isle of Ruby.
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I just got off the plane late last night after a very long trip, where things are a little different. I was traveling with my family—my mother, father, and wife. We decided to rent a car and realized I would have to drive. During this moment, I panicked, thinking, 'Oh no, I’ll have to drive this car,' but that's conscious mind.
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On the other hand, subconsciously, there’s an underlying confidence that whispers, 'Hey, it’ll be alright. Think about what's similar here.' This is an example of both types of confidence operating simultaneously.
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I want to share a story about a gentleman named Eugene Pauly. In the late 1960s, at the age of 59, he contracted a bacteria that ate away a significant part of his brain, specifically the area controlling short-term memory. Until his death in his 70s, he had no idea he had aged beyond 60 to 90 seconds past 59.
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He had grandchildren he never knew existed until he met them. As he aged, he remained blissfully unaware. For the most part, this ignorance is okay, but let’s discuss his daily routine.
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Every morning, his alarm would wake him up, and he would walk into the kitchen to make eggs, bacon, and toast. After breakfast, he would head right back to bed for another 15-minute nap. He repeated this approximately five or six times a day until eventually, he realized the sun was high.
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As he aged, his family noticed problems, and doctors advised that he couldn’t just eat bacon and eggs daily without exercise. So, his wife would take him on a half-hour walk around the neighborhood for some exercise.
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One day, for reasons I can’t quite recall, his wife wasn’t available, and he went missing. She was in a panic, calling neighbors to find out where he was. About 45 minutes later, he returned home.
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He couldn’t explain where he had been and didn't even recall what had happened two minutes prior. So, he was examined to understand how someone with no short-term memory could navigate paths he had learned unconsciously.
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It's interesting to note that during this time, his family had moved, and although he could find his way into the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, he couldn’t consciously describe the layout of the house.
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Though he couldn’t recall the locus of these spaces, his body intuitively knew where they were. Unfortunately, there was an odd situation with his family; when his daughter visited, he would get angry whenever she left.
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He'd express frustration as if she had just arrived, despite not remembering their last encounter, which led psychologists to examine his case. What they discovered was that conscious and short-term memory is governed by a different part of the brain than habit and routine.
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Muscle memory allowed him to navigate his familiar space, but when that routine was disrupted, such as when he had to adapt to a different car setup, his conscious mind would panic.
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I remember a time when I visited London for the first time with my family. It was overwhelming, but my subconscious calmed my conscious fears. My conscious mind would trip out over the changes, but my subconscious was like, 'Chill, we’ve got this.'
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We began with what was familiar. Steering wheel? Yes. Controls? The same. Only the dangers were reversed; everything else was largely the same. This acclimatization is a key feature of mechanical confidence.
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This is important in coding and development too. I’ve been an actor for a long time and a senior developer for about fifteen years. What I’ve realized is the learning gap between experienced and inexperienced individuals generally isn’t time—it’s about routine and habit.
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Every day, I encountered engineers with simpler routines, always following the same processes. So I began asking them whether they laid out their environment—terminal on the left, editor on the right, for example.
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I noticed that less experienced developers often had chaotic, disorganized environments. So, I decided to experiment with the interns who sometimes knew the answers but lacked confidence to voice them.
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I instructed them to arrange the terminal on the left and the editor on the right for a week. Surprisingly, this small change increased their confidence and certainty about knowing what to do next.
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My theory is that by reducing cognitive load—removing that from their mental equation—they could build habitual knowledge that helped them navigate various challenges.
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For instance, when I see an error with Rails, I can often deduce the issue without even reading; I can recognize patterns. But if my environment is switched around, it can throw me off, even temporarily.
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During this time, I also read a book called 'The Power of Habit' by Charles Duhigg, which expands on these ideas. It discusses Eugene Pauly's story in detail and presents a three-stage process for forming habits.
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The first stage is routine, the second is reward, and the third is the cue to start the process. For example, a morning routine might involve waking up, showering, and having breakfast.
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Interestingly, habits are often a cycle: there's a trigger, then a routine, and finally a reward that reinforces the behavior. People often tend to eat breakfast or shower as part of their daily routine without necessarily thinking about it.
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In the biohacking community, there’s a concept called cold therapy, which involves taking cold showers. I've been doing this for a couple of years now, and I can’t end my showers without a final cold blast.
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It's a habitual thing. Similar to exercising, once you establish a routine, it can create a subconscious expectation for your body.
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To summarize mechanical confidence, the question is: how can we create these things actively instead of merely understanding them? I’ll now discuss what we do about it.
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As an actor, I’ve dealt with stage fright and improv. Often, I’d play multiple characters in quick succession. The question many ask me is how to remember these lines.
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The answer is simple. I teach a method where you associate a part of your body with a character and lead from that part to bring them to life. This physical association helps your body and mind coordinate.
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So, I want you to try an exercise. Stand up, close your eyes, and visualize a person or a character vividly in your mind.
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Next, identify a body part you can associate with that character. When you're ready, open your eyes and move around the room as if you embody that character.
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Now stop and visualize a different character. Identify another body part for this new character and move around again, recalling their essence.
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Returning to your initial character while using the new body part can switch your focus. This exercise embodies the essence of mechanical confidence.
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When people watch you, they think you remember everything, but the reality is you're cueing your memory through physicality. The center you embody leads your performance.
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Now, I want to transition to another improv group, 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' They are a highly rehearsed troupe. Though they improvise, their exercises and setups are practiced.
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Their comedy routines rely on knowing how to physically engage with certain prompts, creating a seamless dynamic with the audience.
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Consider an athlete like Steph Curry, who demonstrates mechanical confidence through repetition. Focus is on execution rather than overthinking; the mechanics become second nature.
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In this way, we can actively create focus and routine both as individuals and as a team, translating into confidence.
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Establishing a routine is crucial. For example, in our consultancy, we have a stand-up meeting daily at 8:30 AM. This consistency forms our operational heartbeat.
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What I have noticed is that when teams struggle with dysfunction, the stand-up meeting often becomes the first casualty. Therefore, maintaining routines is vital.
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Each week, we also meet for IPM (In-Process Meetings) and retrospectives; the format can vary, but doing them consistently creates a reliable structure.
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Consistency leads to certainty, which boosts confidence across a team. Implementing effective routines can streamline outcomes for freelancers, consultants, and teams.
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The next significant step is finding a trigger and a reward for routines. This can be like specific actions you perform consistently at certain times.
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Rewards reinforce behaviors; people forget routines when they lack a sense of benefiting from them. Therefore, identify small rewards linked to your processes.
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We have a little tradition where after our daily stand-up, we conclude with a 'power clap.' It creates a positive and collective atmosphere.
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The last suggestion is to celebrate all forms of success, small or large. This positivity opens up possibilities by reinforcing that we are capable.
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One example is a runner who aimed for the four-minute mile. His journey involved celebrating every small progress, ultimately leading him to break the record.
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Celebration matters for reinforcing belief in one's capabilities, which plays into the neurological wiring of our confidence mechanism.
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Show and Tell sessions in our teams are also vital for celebrating progress without judgment. This builds a supportive environment for showcasing achievements.
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The essence of conscious confidence comes from recognizing and celebrating every achievement. It reflects a shift from mere belief to real, actionable confidence.
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Remember Eugene Pauly—his story illustrates that our minds, along with the proper physical and social cues and routines, can pave the way for confidence.
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The last request is for your feedback. Visit mechanicallyconfident.com and answer a few questions about your routines that create confidence in your life.
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Overall, I want to understand the various factors across different experiences in the Rails and Ruby community.
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Please participate in this short survey to aid us in capturing data for a better understanding of confidence in our field.
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Lastly, we have a podcast for you to explore. It's called Coding Zeal, offering 20 to 30-minute discussions among engineers about various topics in our industry.
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I hope these nuggets of knowledge will assist you as you navigate our ever-evolving field.
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You