Working Code Podcast - Episode 039: Ben's Future At InVision

For last 8-years, I've poured my heart and soul into InVision, a product that drives design collaboration. During this period, my area of expertise has focused on the (now named) "legacy" platform - the ColdFusion and AngularJS monolith that has built the business into what it is today. Soon, however, the "legacy" platform will be wholly subsumed by the "modern" platform - a distributed, microservices architecture built on Go, Node.js, and React.

In today's episode, I open up about the emotional struggle that I've been facing as my role on the legacy platform comes to a end. I wonder what it's going to be like to start over; to go from a big fish in a CFML pond to a novice in a Go ocean; and, to find a way to not feel like a complete failure when my productivity drops significantly.

One of the scariest things for me is that I'm not sure if I'll be able to trust my gut. While the fundamentals of programming will certainly transfer from the legacy platform over to the modern platform, it's hard to know if future "feelings" will be true indicators of potential problems. Or, if it's just a byproduct of my lack of familiarity with the new architecture and language constructs.

Only time will tell. And, until then, I intend to grind hard and deliver as much value as I possibly can on the legacy platform while I still have time and the skills necessary to get the job done.

ASIDE: While not mentioned by name in the show, Travis Heinström - the SVP of Engineering at InVision - is the person who wanted to make sure that I have all the room I need to "feel my feelings" when the legacy platform is shut down. This is perhaps one of the most emotionally-intelligent things that I've ever heard a manager ask about.

Or, listen to the full audio:

... featuring these beautiful, beautiful people:

• Adam Tuttle → Website, Twitter, LinkedIn
• Carol Weiler → Twitter, LinkedIn
• Tim Cunningham → Twitter, LinkedIn
• Ben Nadel (that's me) → Website, Twitter, LinkedIn

With audio editing and engineering by ZCross Media.

For the full show notes and links, visit the episode page. And, be sure to follow the show! Our website is workingcode.dev and we're @WorkingCodePod on Twitter and Instagram. Or, leave us a message at (512) 253-2633‬ (that's 512-253-CODE). New episodes drop weekly on Wednesday.

Short link: https://bennadel.com/go/4109