4 ms·

> Apprenticeships in a trade tend to be such that with sufficient hard work and determination, anyone can fill the trade requirements. The problem solving skil

> Apprenticeships in a trade tend to be such that with sufficient hard work and determination, anyone can fill the trade requirements. The problem solving skills of software development don't seem to fit that model - there are some people, no matter how much you train them, don't seem to be able to move beyond "follow instructions" to "give tasks" when it comes to developing software. The trades face the same challenge. Over the past decade, I've gotten along well enough with my HVAC guy (one-man shop who brings on a rotating cast of apprentices) to talk with him about this. He reports the same experience ("no matter how much you train them, don't seem to be able to move beyond..."). This isn't a case of "can / cannot solve problems", either. For hobbies they delve in, that cohort appears to problem solve extremely well. I suspect the challenge is finding ways to communicate a mental model of the same problem domain that "clicks" with different personalities.

shagie 5y ago
I'll start off with apologizing the "trade" comment - in my mind I was more thinking the landscape / basic construction. I hadn't really thought about the mental model of hvac. The "skilled trades" with hvac, electrician, plumbing, carpentry and such where the apprenticeship is more appropriate do have that issue again. While it is often argued and parts of it have been refuted - The Camel Has Two Humps ( http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/paper1.pdf http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/paper1.pdf ) is applicable here. There are people, for whatever reason, can't accept a different mental model than what they've got in their head. Software development is about twisting how you think to that of how a computer works. I've presented this very light model of "levels": A junior follows instructions A mid completes tasks A senior solves problems There are people who plateau at each level and never go beyond that for whatever reason. In many cases it is a failure of putting the proper problem solving / learning skills in place to be able to think in a way that isn't the easy way.

shagie 5y ago

I'll start off with apologizing the "trade" comment - in my mind I was more thinking the landscape / basic construction. I hadn't really thought about the mental model of hvac. The "skilled trades" with hvac, electrician, plumbing, carpentry and such where the apprenticeship is more appropriate do have that issue again. While it is often argued and parts of it have been refuted - The Camel Has Two Humps ( http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/paper1.pdf http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/paper1.pdf ) is applicable here. There are people, for whatever reason, can't accept a different mental model than what they've got in their head. Software development is about twisting how you think to that of how a computer works. I've presented this very light model of "levels": A junior follows instructions A mid completes tasks A senior solves problems There are people who plateau at each level and never go beyond that for whatever reason. In many cases it is a failure of putting the proper problem solving / learning skills in place to be able to think in a way that isn't the easy way.