The Whole Developer is a concept in which we teach developers, designers and business people how to become more balanced and well-rounded human beings. We focus on the art of communication, team building and the importance of mindfulness and emotional intelligence.
In a nutshell, we’re not just trying to create great developers, but aiming to create great people.
Why are we doing this? Coders and developers are among the fastest growing professions in the world. While being an incredible coder can help you now, in five years, you’ll need a host of soft skills to be more marketable and interesting to employers. You’ll need to become a business leader or a manager, which requires a very different skill set.
Unfortunately, coders have two stereotypes: either they’re socially awkward shut-ins who code around the clock, or obliviously arrogant “brogrammers” who give the industry a bad name. Creating a company is a different beast than creating a product, something new entrepreneurs – coders turned CEOs – often find out only when they’re way in over their heads. Being a Whole Developer will help you avoid falling into success’ many pitfalls.
The industry is way behind the curve here, which provides you a great opportunity to be ahead of it. Whole Developers have a chance to break free of their molds and set an example for their peers, colleagues and supervisors. They can truly lead the industry forward.
One more benefit: as a Whole Developer, you will lead a healthier, happier and more balanced life, which in turn will make you more productive. And since happier employees are more productive employees, everything talked about here can be applied to the entire workforce, not just you, or the head honchos.
The “Whole Developer” concept will teach developers the following skills:
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Communication
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Team Building
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Mindfulness
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Emotional Intelligence
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Work/Life Balance
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Social Responsibility
Over the next seven posts, we’ll be going over these skills in more detail, and explore why they’re so critical for today’s developer. We’ll also be teaching Whole Developer concepts at our spring hackathon series. Be sure to sign up today.
