After a surfing buddy talked him into moving away from philosophy and into computer science, Edward Skrod pursued the opportunity with gusto. Now with only a year and a half experience in the industry, he is transitioning into his first software leadership role. Regrets from his past are ensuring he won’t make the same mistakes as he did in a former career.
Edward Skrod, is a software engineer, philosopher, surfer and Grateful “Deadhead” from Melbourne, Florida, working for Thales, USA in the Business Applications division for Commercial Airline, In-Flight Television and Connectivity. He graduated from Florida State University, Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science in 2014. He enjoys speaking at .NET code camps on the topic of Unit Testing.
Key Takeaways
- Surf when the waves are out, the work will always be there
- Listen to the experienced team members regardless of their position and your own
- Life is a succession of successes and failures and it’s our responsibility to figure out why
- Create a calendar reminder to do the things you hate doing, copy everyone else it can help
- Host get-togethers and invite co-workers and their families
- Recruit a co-evangelist for your idea and spread the idea to get buy-in
- Throw an internal hack-a-thon and team senior developers with juniors
- Leadership isn’t reserved for outgoing people, introverted people need to push themselves out of their comfort zone
Resources Mentioned
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni (Listen on Audible)
- hackerrank.com
Contact Guest
- Edward Skrod on LinkedIn
- @edwardskrod
- Edward Skrod on Facebook
