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Ben Nadel at CFUNITED 2009 (Lansdowne, VA) with: John Watson
Ben Nadel at CFUNITED 2009 (Lansdowne, VA) with: John Watson ( @wizputer )

Working Code Podcast - Episode 72: Wearing Too Many Hats

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This week on the show, the crew discusses a topic submitted by Mingo Hagen: Do developers wear too many hats, do they spread themselves too thin, and does the work suffer because of it? There are clears benefits and drawbacks to wearing a lot of hats. Knowing a little bit about a lot of things can cut down on communication overhead and enable teams to move faster. But, without specialization, solutions will almost certainly be sub-optimal; and, "best practices" may not even be known to the engineer. Ideally, a team should consistent of both generalists and subject-matter experts (SME). This kind of balance creates a "healthy tension" that tempers perfectionism with pragmatism and keeps everyone moving forward at the right pace.

All languages are terrible and great at the same time. And, you find the one that looks at you the way you look at it and you make beautiful things. - Ben Nadel

All that and more on this week's show:

... featuring these beautiful, beautiful people:

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 and come chat with us on Discord! Our website is workingcode.dev and we're @WorkingCodePod on Twitter and Instagram. New episodes drop weekly on Wednesday.

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Ben Nadel