Working in software you come across a lot of different mindsets, one of my favorite mindsets is the one chasing difficulty.
There’s invariably a variety of tasks to get a web application deployed to a customer. Some tasks will get you glory in a sprint review, like setting up a reactive UI or configuring an Django REST Framework API. Some tasks are less visible, like creating an automated test suite to confirm requirements or a how to generate and maintain a repeatable development infrastructure. Wherever your tasks lie, there is going to be an amount of unknown, or to put it another way, there’s going to be an institutional knowledge gap.
It could be the difficult stuff is the glue holding the various pieces of development together, though sometimes it’s the pieces themselves. But the mindset taking the bullet for the team and engaging on the tasks other developers shy away from is going to become more well rounded as a developer and be the more valuable employee in the end.
So, my unwarranted advice for the day, chase the difficult tasks around, because the easy stuff has already been solved a dozen times over. Chances are if you think it looks difficult so do your coworkers – do them a favor. If the task is difficult, it’s more likely to become a blocker for your team – do them a favor. And finally, whenever you come across a task you don’t know how to finish outright, jump in and figure it out – and do yourself a favor.
