Developer Tea exists to help driven developers connect to their ultimate purpose and excel at their work so that they can positively impact the people they influence. With over 17 million downloads to date, Developer Tea is a short podcast hosted by Jonathan Cutrell, engineering leader with over 15 years of industry experience. We hope you'll take the topics from this podcast and continue the conversation, either online or in person with your peers. Email: [email protected]
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Shift Your Locus of Control to Take Charge of Your Engineering Career
20:45
20:45
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20:45This episode explores the concept of Locus of Control and why developing a more internal locus of control is beneficial for your career and life. You'll learn the difference between internal and external perspectives, why one is more useful than the other, and practical exercises to shift your mindset to believe you have more influence over the out…
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Resumé Driven Development - Your Career is In Your Hands
12:27
12:27
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12:27In this episode we'll discuss why "Résumé Driven Development" is a powerful mental model for building a thriving career. Instead of seeing your résumé as just a job-hunting tool, you'll learn to use it as a guide for setting measurable, impactful goals that benefit you, your manager, and your company. Focus on Impact, Not Just Tasks: Discover why a…
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Forced and Unforced Errors
15:31
15:31
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15:31In this episode, we introduce a simple yet powerful mental model from the world of sports: forced vs. unforced errors. By understanding this concept, you can shift your focus from things outside your control to the simple, foundational behaviours that truly define a successful career. Understand the Difference: Learn the distinction between forced …
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View Your Productivity Through the Lens of Values and Priorities
13:39
13:39
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13:39In this episode, we introduce two fundamental thought experiments to help you uncover your true priorities and core values. By exploring scenarios of scarcity and abundance, you'll learn to align your daily actions with what truly matters, leading to a more satisfied career and life. Uncover Your Priorities: Engage in a "5% exercise" where you imag…
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This One Skill Signifies Seniority For Software Engineers
14:28
14:28
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14:28This episode explains what is arguably the best career advice you'll hear this week: the one skill that signifies seniority in software engineers is the ability to synthesise and optimise for multiple factors at once. Instead of focusing on a single factor, such as performance or maintainability, senior engineers identify and weigh the various trad…
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Backup Plans and Risk Reward Curves
13:50
13:50
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13:50This episode focuses on the critical importance of having a backup plan, not just for technical redundancies but especially for situations involving human error, which are highly prevalent in one's career. The core argument hinges on understanding risk and reward curves, highlighting the disproportionate impact of failures compared to incremental s…
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Second Order Consequences and Forcing Functions
23:45
23:45
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23:45Todays episode delves into understanding and leveraging second and third-order consequences – the ripple effects that occur after an initial action – and introduces forcing functions, which are an inverted way of thinking about these consequences, designed to drive desired outcomes by first determining "what must be true" for them to occur. The epi…
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Don't Try to Solve Hyperobject Problems Once
15:46
15:46
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15:46This episode delves into the philosophical concept of hyperobjects – problems so vast and complex they lack clear boundaries and cannot be "solved" once and for all. It explores why attempting to permanently fix issues like technical debt, user experience, or performance management is often ineffective. Instead, it offers a new perspective: how to …
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Behavior Change 101: Trigger, Incentive, and Ability
20:16
20:16
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20:16This episode delves into a powerful model for encouraging behaviour change, applicable to both managing others and self-improvement, by focusing on three critical factors: Trigger, Incentive, and Ability. It challenges common, ineffective management approaches and provides insights into fostering new habits and desired actions by making the 'right'…
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Goal of the Goal - Using Goals As A Prioritization Clarifying Tool
26:13
26:13
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26:13This episode delves into the crucial role of well-positioned goals in a developer's career. It asserts that goals provide clarity, perspective, and purpose, particularly focusing on clarity as a primary benefit. The discussion challenges common struggles with goal setting, including the often-overlooked importance of relevance (the 'R' in SMART goa…
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Your Capacity for Growth Is Dependent on This Factor - Cognitive Load Theory
23:49
23:49
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23:49Today we explore Cognitive Load Theory. This concept can profoundly influence how you structure your workday, manage teams, and approach learning in your career. The episode highlights that much of professional work, particularly in knowledge-based roles like software engineering, is fundamentally about learning. You will discover that there is an …
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Investigating Your Invisible Systems
16:20
16:20
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16:20This episode focuses again on the fundamental principle that your systems are perfectly designed for the outcomes you are experiencing, regardless of whether those systems were intentionally or accidentally created. Here are the key takeaways from the episode: Uncover how your systems, whether intentionally or accidentally designed, are perfectly c…
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Perfection Is Fragile, and You Should Avoid It
20:03
20:03
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20:03This episode discusses why perfection is a dangerous and fragile goal, explaining how striving for 100% leads to unsustainable outlier states. It highlights how setting perfection as a bar can cause commitments to break and plans to fail due to a lack of slack, and offers strategies like building redundancy and planning with slack to achieve goals …
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Your System is Perfectly Designed for Your Current Outcomes
18:14
18:14
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18:14This episode introduces the potentially controversial principle that your system is perfectly designed for its current outcomes, urging listeners to embrace greater responsibility for systemic issues. It explores how to redefine system boundaries to holistically integrate all influencing factors, like talent and organisational processes, ensuring t…
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Using LLMs To Expand Your Working Vocabulary
13:26
13:26
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13:26This episode explores the fundamental mindset of building your vocabulary, extending beyond literal words to conceptual understanding and mental models, and how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be a powerful tool for expanding and refining this crucial skill for career growth, clarity, and navigating disruptions. Uncover why building your vocabular…
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Great Reviews and Terrible Tacos - Sharpening Substitute Questions with Counterfactuals
23:28
23:28
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23:28This episode delves into the use of substitute questions—simpler queries we use to answer more complex ones—and the crucial concept of cohesion between these substitutes and our true objectives. You'll learn how to leverage counterfactual thinking to scrutinize your assumptions and enhance the effectiveness of your decisions. Discover two powerful …
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Why Maintenance Matters Now - Construal Level Theory, Marshmallows, and Hyperbolic Discounting
22:57
22:57
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22:57This episode explores why maintenance tasks, despite their fundamental importance, are often neglected or deprioritised in our daily lives and professional work. It delves into the psychological biases that make consistent maintenance challenging, such as hyperbolic discounting, where immediate gratification is valued over future gains, and the con…
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