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Leitura de 12 min

Poison Series: #01 - Cynicism

Summary

In this episode, Jonathan Cottrell introduces a new series on “developer poisons,” starting with the poison of cynicism. He defines cynicism as being bitterly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic—essentially a negative outlook that assumes others’ ideas won’t work. This attitude is particularly common among developers, who often possess specialized knowledge that clients lack, leading to a tendency to dismiss client visions prematurely.

The cynical developer is characterized by a preference for saying “no,” shooting down ideas, and expecting unrealistic proposals. This behavior makes them socially unacceptable in office cultures, often causing them to be avoided or excluded from meetings. Cottrell emphasizes that cynicism doesn’t stem from a lack of skill or knowledge but from an attitude that “cuts the legs of inspiration,” destroying the creative power that makes developers valuable.

Cottrell offers two antidotes to combat cynicism. The first is to “become a teacher,” embodying an attitude that doesn’t assume others know what you know. A good teacher sees the potential for future knowledge in others rather than focusing on their current lack of understanding. This shift helps developers empower clients instead of dismissing their ideas.

The second antidote is to “question your own knowledge” and become a perpetual student. By remaining humble and recognizing that there’s always more to learn—especially in technology—developers can reduce cynicism. This mindset reframes ideas not as potential failures but as opportunities for learning. Cottrell connects this to the concept of becoming acquainted with failure, where failure leads to growth rather than being a dead end.

Ultimately, cynicism is poisonous because it prevents developers from exploring new ideas and learning through experience. By adopting the roles of both teacher and student, developers can cultivate humility, pursue knowledge over intellectual superiority, and foster more productive and creative relationships with clients and colleagues.

Recommendations

Educational-Programs

  • RefactorU — Today’s sponsor: an immersive 10-week JavaScript training boot camp in Boulder, Colorado. It includes project-based learning, career services, GI Bill approval, housing resources, diversity scholarships, and a 20% tuition discount for Developer Tea listeners.

Podcasts

  • Developer Tea’s Great Developer Mindset series — Mentioned in the episode as discussing the concept of becoming acquainted with failure. Cottrell encourages listeners to check the show notes for a link to this series.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introduction to the Poison Series and Cynicism — Jonathan Cottrell welcomes listeners to Developer Tea and introduces the first episode in a series about “developer poisons.” Today’s focus is cynicism, defined as being bitterly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic. He explains that this negativity is a common problem for developers, often manifesting as shooting down ideas and assuming others’ proposals won’t work.
  • 00:01:43 — The Social Impact of the Cynical Developer — Cottrell describes how the cynical developer is often avoided in office cultures, especially when new ideas are discussed. They may even be left out of meetings. He clarifies that cynicism doesn’t stem from a lack of knowledge or skill but from an attitude that disempowers others and “cuts the legs of inspiration.” This destroys the creative power that makes developers attractive.
  • 00:04:29 — Why Cynicism is Common Among Developers — Cottrell explores why cynicism is so prevalent among developers. Developers possess knowledge that clients lack, which is why they’re hired. However, developers often mistakenly expect clients to understand the development process. When clients don’t, developers tend to write off their ideas. Cottrell admits to having this tendency himself and has observed it in others.
  • 00:05:22 — Antidote 1: Become a Teacher — The first antidote to cynicism is to become a teacher. This means embodying an attitude that doesn’t assume people know what you know. Instead, see it as an opportunity to help others understand. A good teacher focuses on the potential for future knowledge in a student, not their current lack of knowledge. This shift helps empower rather than dismiss.
  • 00:06:06 — Antidote 2: Question Your Own Knowledge — The second antidote piggybacks on the first: question your own knowledge and become a perpetual student. Even professors are still researching and learning. In technology, there’s always more to learn. Remaining humble about your knowledge correlates with lower cynicism. It reframes ideas as opportunities for learning, not as failures, recognizing that failure often leads to growth.
  • 00:07:17 — Conclusion: Avoiding the Poison of Cynicism — Cottrell concludes that cynicism is poisonous because it labels ideas as dead ends from the start, preventing learning through failure. He encourages listeners to be humble, pursue knowledge over intellectual superiority, and adopt the roles of both teacher and student. This mindset helps developers avoid cynicism and foster more creative, productive relationships.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2016-08-17T13:30:00Z
  • Duration: 00:09:02

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey, everyone, and welcome to developer team. My name is Jonathan Cottrell. Today’s episode is the first in a series of episodes about developer poisons. Today’s poison that we’re going to talk about is cynicism.

[00:00:15] Today’s episode is sponsored by refactor you the immersive 10 week JavaScript training boot camp with a dedicated careers team. We will talk more about what refactor you has to offer developer T listeners later on in today’s episode.

[00:00:32] But first, I want to talk to you about cynicism. Being cynical is a common problem for developers. If you’re not sure on what I mean by cynical, you can go and look it up.

[00:00:45] The definition of cynical is a common problem for developers.

[00:00:45] The definition that we’re talking about today is being bitterly or sneeringly distrustful, contemptuous or pessimistic. In other words, generally being a negative person and assuming that the ideas of others are not going to work.

[00:01:02] So whether you call it cynicism or pessimism or negativity, all of these things apply to developers. So often, if you think about all of the developer relationships that you have, my guess is.

[00:01:15] Quite a few of you have met the cynical developer. This is the kind of person who prefers to say no before saying anything else. They shoot things down. They expect that people will bring them things that are unrealistic as a rule. In an office culture, this kind of person is generally avoided, particularly when new ideas are brought to the table. And sometimes they’re even left out of meetings for that very reason.

[00:01:43] A lot of times this is received.

[00:01:45] As a socially unacceptable form of relationship with clients. And that’s a very important distinction here. The cynical or pessimistic or negative developer doesn’t lose credibility based on a lack of knowledge. They don’t lose credibility based on a lack of skill.

[00:02:05] The cynical and negative and pessimistic developer loses credibility because instead of empowering people, they often cut the legs of inspiration.

[00:02:45] So outantoigst these categories.

[00:02:46] Alright, so the poison of cynicism destroys the thing that makes developers so attractive in the first place. The power to create something that previously was not possible.

[00:02:58] Today we’re going to talk about two antidotes for the poison of cynicism right after we talk about today’s sponsor.

[00:03:06] RefactorU.

[00:03:07] RefactorU is an immersive 10 week JavaScript training boot camp.

[00:03:12] Students create their own applications and build a portfolio of projects.

[00:03:15] to share with potential employers in the future. RefactorU has a dedicated career services team

[00:03:23] and they are GI Bill approved. They are based in an absolutely beautiful place, Boulder, Colorado.

[00:03:30] If you have not seen pictures of this place, go and Google it after you listen to this episode.

[00:03:35] Absolutely gorgeous place to live and they have housing resources available. RefactorU is intended

[00:03:41] for people who are trying to learn to code online but they’re hitting a brick wall. RefactorU is

[00:03:47] committed to student success regardless of where they came from and where they want to go. RefactorU

[00:03:53] also offers diversity scholarships for each cohort. On top of all of this, RefactorU is

[00:03:59] providing a 20% tuition discount when you mention developer T. Go and check it out spec.fm slash

[00:04:07] refactor. If you are serious about your career,

[00:04:11] then you have to make learning a priority and that’s exactly what RefactorU will do for you.

[00:04:17] Go and check it out spec.fm slash refactor. Thanks again to RefactorU, particularly for

[00:04:23] the tuition discount for developer T listeners. We’re talking today about the poison of cynicism.

[00:04:29] The poison of cynicism. This is pessimism, negativity. All of these words kind of wrap

[00:04:35] up into the same concept of cynicism. Not being able to believe in the vision of another person’s

[00:04:41] ideas.

[00:04:41] You don’t think it’s going to work. This is such a common problem for developers. And I think the

[00:04:48] reason it’s so common for developers is because developers tend to have knowledge that clients

[00:04:54] don’t have. Otherwise, the client wouldn’t have a reason to hire the developer. They hire you for

[00:04:59] what you know. And far too often, the developer ends up looking at the client as if they should

[00:05:05] know everything about the development process. And if they don’t, the developer has a tendency

[00:05:11] to write it down. And if they don’t, the developer has a tendency to write it down.

[00:05:11] I know this because I have this same tendency. I have done this many times in the past,

[00:05:17] and I’ve seen other developers do it countless times. So the first antidote to the poison of

[00:05:22] cynicism is to become a teacher. Become a teacher. This means to become a teacher to

[00:05:30] all of those around you. Embody the attitude of a teacher. And what does this mean? Well,

[00:05:36] quite simply, it means that you don’t assume that people know what you know. And in fact,

[00:05:41] you recognize that you have an opportunity to help that person in their life by helping them

[00:05:47] understand some of the things that you know. A good teacher doesn’t look at the lack of knowledge

[00:05:53] in a student. Instead, they look at the potential for future knowledge in that student.

[00:06:00] And antidote number two piggybacks right off of the first one, becoming a teacher. Antidote number

[00:06:06] two is question your own knowledge. In other words, become a teacher. So if you’re a teacher,

[00:06:11] become a perpetual student. If you visit a college campus and talk to any professor at

[00:06:16] that campus, pretty much all of them will tell you that they are still in research phase. In other

[00:06:23] words, even though they are teaching others, they do not presume to know everything. Even in

[00:06:29] very specific subjects, there’s still a ton to learn. And this is particularly true

[00:06:35] for software developers and anyone in a technology field. You will find that if

[00:06:41] you remain humble as it relates to your own knowledge, in other words, if you recognize

[00:06:46] that your knowledge is always questionable and that you can always be learning, you will find

[00:06:52] that that correlates to a lower level of cynicism. Because instead of labeling an idea as failure,

[00:06:59] you label it as an opportunity. You label it as an opportunity for learning. You recognize

[00:07:05] as a perpetual student that failure most often leads to learning,

[00:07:11] and that failure is not the end of the road. So cynicism looks at ideas as if they are dead ends.

[00:07:17] And that’s exactly why it’s such a poisonous concept for developers. If you avoid every

[00:07:23] idea and label it as a failure from the start, then you never provide yourself the opportunity

[00:07:28] to learn through perpetual failure. We talked about this in our Great Developer Mindset series,

[00:07:35] the concept of becoming acquainted with failure. Make sure you check out the show notes where we

[00:07:40] will leave a link to the show notes. And if you haven’t already, make sure to check out the show

[00:07:41] notes where we will leave a link to that episode. I hope today’s episode has challenged your thinking

[00:07:45] and has encouraged you to be humble and to become a student and a teacher, to pursue knowledge

[00:07:53] rather than intellectual superiority. Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of

[00:07:58] Developer Tea. If you think that this episode would be enjoyed by someone you know, send them

[00:08:03] the link. That’s the best way for other people to find out about Developer Tea. They’re going to

[00:08:09] listen to you a whole lot more than they’re going to listen to you. So if you have any questions,

[00:08:11] then they listen to a random tweet that they see in their timeline. So please share this

[00:08:15] information with other people. That’s the best way to help other people find out about the show.

[00:08:20] Thank you again to Refactor You, today’s sponsor. If you are hitting a brick wall with your online

[00:08:27] learning of how to code, maybe you need to check out Refactor You. They accept the GI Bill. They

[00:08:34] have diversity scholarships. And on top of that, they have a 20% discount for Developer Tea listeners

[00:08:39] when you mention Developer Tea.

[00:08:41] Check it out by going to spec.fm slash refactor, the 10-week JavaScript boot camp. Thank you again

[00:08:48] to Refactor You. Thanks so much for listening. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out

[00:08:52] on Friday’s episode. And until next time, enjoy your tea.

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