Abstract:

It is well-understood that in order to get the most out of a framework, developers must be aware of its tradeoffs and shortcomings.

However, the greatest challenge in tighly-knit technical teams - as encouraged by DevOps - is of a more social than technical nature. The root issue this difficulty stems from is somewhat well-understood by perception theory and psychology. At its core lies the fact that the human mind is the product of a long evolutionary timeline - one might go as far as calling it legacy. As a consequence, we are driven by certain patterns of thought and behaviour that were very much adequate while living in caves. But it goes without saying that some of these are no longer appropriate and sometimes even harmful.

Some examples:

  • The illusion of asymmetric insight makes it all too easy to believe that we are promoting diversity while we are actually forming closed groups and excluding other opinions simply because they are not our own. Thwarting this misconception is tremendously important in heterogenous groups of people with different mindsets.

  • Ego depletion is the observation that, contrarily to common belief, willpower is a finite resource. Understanding this limitation can allow for better self-discipline. This comes in handy while broadening one's technical skills but also for self-improvement in general.

This talk assumes that to be at our best, we also need to be aware of the tradeoffs and shortcomings of the human mind. In order to achieve this, this talk will explore common thought patterns and fallacies leading to bias, misunderstanding and self-delusion.

Speaker: Maximilien Riehl

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