This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

1. I know that teaching others is important when working on a team so that the team can grow and get better. But what happens when one member of the team, despite being the friendliest person in the world, is missing so many required skills for his job that it becomes impossible for me to do anything besides teach him?
2. I recently heard the concept of “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns”. It’s the unknown unknowns that get me. Sometimes I ask a question of a seasoned developer and they seem annoyed because it’s something that I could have looked up. They knew it but I didn’t. Sometimes I ask a question and they are eager to help because the question is interesting and they know it will be good for me to learn. I struggle because I don’t want to waste my time or theirs, but I want to work through things and learn. How do I do this well?

Wikipedia has a whole article on the origin of the phrase “unknown unknowns”.

Also, Gary Bernhardt has a fantastic talk called Ideology about “unknown knowns” - things we believe in software without even realizing we believe them.

Hoobastank.

This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

1. When should asking a developer pal for help go from something that is free because you’re pals to something you should compensate them for in some way?
2. I’ve never worked with recruiters before. I’ve always found jobs from friends and other connections. Is working with recruiters worth it? What should I watch out for?

I finally found the creepy Jack and the Beanstalk video! It is still horrifying.

This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

1. As a “less than ideal” engineer was leaving our team, he asked if he could use me as a job reference. How should I tell them no?
2. What are your thoughts on having full sleeve tattoos (ie, tattoos that cover the entire arm) within engineering?