Not going for the obvious (and usually easy) solution first and then iterating on it.

Be interrupted by request for help. Needed help is much more interesting than my main project because 1) need for it is so clear 2) and it's skunkworks without stifling PM oversight. If result of helping is deemed good enough it becomes my main project and old project gets another lead dev or is on hold until I get back to it. Usually this cycle repeats around 1,5 years.

When driving changes knowing when to shift from tech to people and vice versa. Beyond that, knowing when to shift between people and when to shift between tech.

You are very systematic...
Still to this day I don't know was it a compliment or something else.

Talking with manager about C++ ...

ME: ... and those are the main differences when coming from C03 to C17.

MGR: OK. I think I got it... are these changes those kind of changes that when we know them we can work in any industry if they use C++?

ME: No they are not, sorry. They are like basic enablers to even start considering entering some industries. What you mean are standards. AUTOSAR standard for example is for automotive industry.
The standard requires some level of C++ standard competency.

MGR: Are these standards like plugins for C++...

ME: ? ... no. They specify rules and architecture, conventions and such.

MGR: ... aah. Architecture, I know that word. So in fact they are plugins....like...like...Eclipse IDE has architecture and it can have plugins....right ? ... and you just plugin that AUTOSAR standard to C++ language.

ME: I think you mixing stuff up on multiple levels here. I think we are not ready to talk C++ competency as a strategic decision yet... lets get some basics down first and discuss this stuff in one month.

MGR: ... ?..but, but I mean it can't be that hard. I think I almost got the gist. I just misunderstood at some point.

ME: Sure, sure. No worries...you almost had it *with deep sarcasm*.

Boss is always supporting me and helps me to get promotions and better salary. Has true leadership through servitude attitude. He knows that everybody he helps will gladly help him even without him asking for help.

Older lady designer with 2 huge Apple monitors asking me to change a color on the UI or left shift list elements. That's not too bad, right. NOOOOO. All of those request asked individually in a timespan of 4 weeks. I was assigned to do just that and nothing else. Damn I was bored...I was not allowed to help other teams or even my own team members officially. Finally my boss called me up for another project. SALVATION !!!

PS. That project got cancelled. No suprise there.

Better get started...oh look at this shiny new piece of tech. 3 days later with evaluation done on each usable tech alternative crunch the solution together in record time with tech most similar to your previous one.

Use version control and make backups. #destroyed3weeksofRnD

Become a 1st Fellow in my company (c-suite no thx) and align the business and technology strategy. When done, enjoy frequent trips to interesting places with friends and family and work with customers on the go.

Basically I work my ass off until I have made some real progress. Knowing that I can make something useful in a tough situation gives confidence to enjoy life and try fun things during the good days.

2 years into polytechnic I got my 1st big project as a subcontractor doing Symbian. No need to tell the company I presume.

Anyways, I was brought into the project just couple weeks before holiday season started. My Symbian programming experience was just the basics from school. 1st day I was crapping my pants out of anxiety. I pretty much didn't understand anything what my project manager or teammates were telling, so I just wrote EVERYTHING down on paper and recorded all the meetings to my laptop.

My job was to implement a very big end to end SDK feature. Basically from API through Symbian OS through HAL to other OS and into its subsystem. Nice job for a beginner :/

As the holidays were starting we had just drafted out the specification (I don't know how, because I didn't understand much of what was going on) and I got a clear mission from team lead. Make a working prototype of the feature during the time everybody else was on vacation.

"No problemos, I can do it" I BS'd myself and the team lead.

First 2 weeks I just read documentation, my notes and internal coding tutorials over and over again. I produced maybe couple of lines of usable code. I stayed at the office as late as I dared without seeming to obvious that I had no clue what I was doing. After the two weeks of staying late and seeing nightmares every night I had a sudden heureka moment. Code that I was reading started to make sense. Okay, still 2 weeks more until my teammates come back.

Next 2 weeks were furious coding and I got better every day. I even had time to refactor some of my earlier code so that quality was consistent.

Soooo, holidays are over and my team leader and collagues are very interested with my progress. "You did very well. Much better than expected. Prototype is working with main use case implemeted. You must have quite high competence to do this so well..."

"Well...I did have to refactor some stuff, so not 10/10"

I didn't say a word of my super late nights, anxiety and total n00biness.

Pretty much finished "like a boss". After that I was on the managers wanted list and they called me to ask if I had the time work on their projects.

Fake it, crap your pants, eat your crap and turn into diamonds and then you make it.

PS. After Symbian normal C++ and almost any other language has been a breeze to learn.

Went blank when interviewer asked me do I know KITT. I knew that he didn't mean Knight Rider, but I could not think of anything sensible in the few seconds I had time to answer the question so I answered NO. Interviewer said that it is a basic requirement for the job and it seemed that I lacked the basic skill needed for the job.

Needless to say I didn't get the job. Later that day as I was telling my friends about the interview they seemed really confused....

"... but you know GIT very well. You use it on a daily basis. Why did you answer NO ?"

Damn, blew my interview on pronounciation issue :/

*phew* 14 hours straight at the office. I was getting giddy towards the end. So much fun to bingework once in a while. ToDo lists are looking pretty empty right now :) ...maybe just chill tomorrow and go talk to people.

Whenever my wife applies occam's razor to my problem solving or pointedly remarks "you update it, you fix it...mr. penguin"