Third Time's the Team Charm

Posted July 9, 2018

Ostensibly, team projects let you practice new dev skills in a real-world environment. If you're lucky, they also help you discover soft skills you never knew you needed.

This too is water

"There is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of." The brilliant man who wrote those words is gone. But if you've never read or listened to David Foster Wallace's commencement speech entitled "This is Water," follow the link and skip this blog. His words are far more elucidating.

I've thought about the advice in that speech many times over the years, but the "learning how to think" part is especially relevant in the context of acquiring a new skill then using it successfully in a group of new developers. Every group project had coding, new JavaScript library, and clean, commented code guidelines ... But to truly succeed, teams also had to pool their ideas, creativity, and commitment. It was the soft skills — the "learn how to think and function as a team" factor — that often proved harder to deliver.

The whiz-by factor of project 1

Project 1 in four words: "Did that just happen?" We definitely wrote code we weren't capable of nine weeks earlier, but the special sauce of communication with a dash of cooperation was missing. Two of our four-person group moved on to project 2; the others were sucked into the Matrix and vanished from class. For me, the lesson was a cautionary tale of the importance of follow-through and proactive problem-solving, which was probably more valuable than getting my API route to function.

The getting-the-hang-of-it feel of project 2

Project 2 was our next chance to practice new skills and gel as a team. We'd all learned from the first round, and it was apparent in our project. Better time management, more confidence tackling new technologies, and an overall team-like approach helped us deliver Mindfully, an app we were proud to present. We didn't quite finish, but in boot camp, like Broadway, the show must go on. And we did ... to project 3.

The well-oiled efficiency of project 3

Maybe it was choosing our own team. Perhaps it was everyone's advanced full-stack skills. But I think the real secret to Bee-Z Street's success was our collective willingness and ability to work as a team. Strong, multi-channel communication. In-person sessions that let everyone flex their strengths. The ability to get back on track after a disagreement and refocus on the ultimate goal: a fully functioning, innovative showcase of four developers' talents.

No one on our team hesitated to say yes to attending Demo Day and showing our work to other students and job prospects. Without question, we're better developers than we were 24 weeks ago. But now we're better team members too.

Success is about so much more than coding

Once again, the timeless words of David Foster Wallace elegantly summarize my point:

It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
“This is water.”
“This is water.”

Thank you, teammates, for everything you taught me and allowed me to teach you. And if any of you manage to secure start-up funding, you know where to find me. :)