Building a Reading Culture.

This being the internet, the above post is no longer available. Did I not read the terms and conditions?

The research findings - as of when first I penned down this draft - showed, that women are more likely to read a product/gadget manual. Lucky for men, we coexist with women at work, at home, and in many other social settings.

In the technology space, your efficiency is pegged on knowing your problem very well in order to match your solutions with the best tools available. Luckily, there is no deficiency of manuals out there for anything you might be looking for. Your solution is always a question away. If this is not the case, it is always an opportunity to write.

The post above looks at a parallel problem - getting directions. I will look at one thought -

"Most people prefer to learn by doing, not being told what to do."

My grandmother told stories of traveling long distances during her youth - without maps, cars, or marked roads. This scares the hell out of modern-day we. Luckily, during those times, without technology, people really had to depend on, and trust their brains and ask for directions of course.

With the increase in the number of things, and their interactions growing ever more complex, there is a need to read manuals more than ever. Modern professions are riding on the availability of information and the ease with which such information can be easily transferred.

As a budding software architect - I am more aware of the fact that there is a need to read more and write about my approaches. The worry of being wrong should not be a stopper. I am more appreciative of the fact that being wrong is a step in the right direction. It takes time to know the right questions to ask. In the meantime, there is a need to keep on asking.

To quote Confucius, “True wisdom is knowing what you don't know.”

When working on Software, reading manuals could be present as

 

1. Understanding a problem domain.
2. Understanding your toolset.
3. Appreciating work politics.
4. Getting feedback from software users, among others.

 

References:

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Happy Coding!