'I Don't Know'

It feels so good to face the unknown calmly and say "I don't know" easily. Nowadays, I would say more naturally “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand it at all.” There is nothing wrong with this.

From service staff to Houdini, Shadow DOM, Web Components, HTTP2, CSS Grid, "micro front-end", AVIF... There are many technical paths in front of us. This hasn't even involved JavaScript frameworks and libraries. After 2020, many technologies are no longer new, but they come together, which makes me feel familiar anxiety again - fear of missing out or impostor syndrome.

How can we keep up with the trend and even learn new knowledge? I recently remembered a sentence from Melanie Sumner:

“Does other people feel this way too: focusing on development in any particular field lead to rustling other skills?”

To understand a topic in depth, one must focus on a specific path, depicting only a small arc in the complete web technology circle. Mastering a subject brings a sense of accomplishment, and it also makes people realize that there are still many unknown areas, like Matt Might's Diagram Guide to Doctoral Degrees. Breaking through or expanding the boundaries of our own knowledge is exciting, but as Melanie observed, it is like reaching a remote top and seeing more peaks stretching to the horizon. This is a lonely place, not without rewards, but it is not easy to replicate. You have to start a new journey from the bottom again.

Considering the challenges brought by the global epidemic, this isolation is both physical and mental. Offline gatherings, tea chats, and new technologies that you overheard are gone. When I can still pat someone on the shoulder and interrupt their workflow, it’s hard enough to ask for help. Strangely, when I have trouble, it seems harder to start a phone call or chat. Everyone is close at the same time and far away.

I learned to overcome this tendency to be closed and accept the talents of my teammates. In the past, I often liked to spend a whole day studying a problem, but now I try to share my findings as close as possible in real time. The feedback loop is closer. I've adjusted the inner clock and it can tell me when it's taking too long on a problem. Teams exist to help each other. We reserved time for pair programming, group programming, and demonstration. However, these plans are not without occasional setbacks.

Or, we had been stuck on a bug for 4 hours, and a newcomer took a look at the stack trace and found a new solution within 15 seconds.

Our more collaborative model also creates a combination of skills. We incorporate the arc of knowledge into the technology we need. We can unravel each other faster, just like long-distance truck drivers take turns driving. Shared understanding helps us retain context and reduce writing communication. Even closer collaboration in daily work has brought about changes. For example, the engineer who gives me regular expression skills every time? I used to be either annoyed or rely on their experience, but now it has become proactive in seeking help. "I don't know how to do it" has become a better and better idea, guiding me to take the first step. I expanded a little bit of my skill range and climbed up a new mountain, and a guide helped me find the path.

I still sometimes go on my own, where I can do some of my best work. But I have a clearer understanding of my ignorance and realize that my team can go further than any of us alone. I no longer bothered by the unexplored peaks and was more eager than ever to ask others if they knew what was there.

The above is the detailed content of 'I Don't Know'. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!