232: Raise Issues Constructively and Be Prepared to Tackle Tough Problems with Michel Weststrate

<p>Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Michel Weststrate. He is a trainer, speaker, micro-consultant and independent open source developer.  As well as the author of MobX, MobX-State-Tree, Immer and a plethora of smaller packages.</p> <p> </p> <p>Michel is on a quest to make programming as natural as possible</p> <p> </p> <p>In this episode, Phil and Michel Weststrate discuss how to raise issues in a constructive way that greatly improves the chances of them being solved. They talk about why it makes sense to share code via OpenSource.</p> <p> </p> <p>Michel explains how he pushes himself to tackle difficult problems without running the risk of burn out. He also touches on why he thinks React Suspense is going to have a huge impact and how tech is likely to evolve over the next few years.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <p><strong>(2.22) TOP CAREER TIP</strong></p> <p>Try to raise solutions rather than problems. It is far better to explain that there is an issue and at the same time share your preferred solution. Simply sharing the problem with your manager, who does not have the hands on experience you have usually leads to a very poor outcome.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the podcast, Michel provides an in-depth example, that explains what he means. It is a practical example that many I.T. professionals will be able to easily relate to.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(4.36) WORST CAREER MOMENT</strong></p> <p>During his career, Michel has found himself regularly making the same mistake. He can overthink things a little and spend too much time working on issues that may never occur. But, he has also dismissed potential problems, only for them to turn into an issue, years down the line. In the podcast, he explains how he has changed the way he works in an effort to get the balance right.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(5.56) CAREER HIGHLIGHT</strong></p> <p>Michel’s career highlight was working on MobX to solve what initially appeared to be a relatively specialist problem, which actuall