This is how the brain works. At first, even understanding social norms, the lingo, codebase is hard. People are talking but you're probably only absorbing like

This is how the brain works. At first, even understanding social norms, the lingo, codebase is hard. People are talking but you're probably only absorbing like 30% of whats said. You read a codebase, and think you 'understand' but really again, only probably 30% is retained. The brain, memory, and the 'automatic' unconscious mind lag behind and take a lot of stimulus to rewire;you need to give them the inputs they need, and the time to catch up. Once they do, it will be night and day, and you'll start flowing. The main thing you need to do is to keep bombarding your brain with new information and critical thoughts. Even if you don't have questions, force out some stupid ones to get the questions flowing. Doing this now, versus after a year, is critical. So the question really is, what behaviors do you need to start that will allow you to give your brain those critical stimuli? - Generating questions - actively email or seek answers from colleagues - Ask to do some pair programming and work through stuff with people, were you assigned a mentor or manager? <- if you can find someone, one-on-one learning is the MOST efficient way of knowledge transfer when beginning a project - Make sure you act VERY POSITIVE, VERY ENGAGED, AND VERY EXCITED, these will make people want to help you. Good luck.