Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware

Author: Andy Hunt
O’Reilly Books, 2008
Pages: 271
ISBN 10: 1-934356-05-0/
ISBN 13: 978-1-934356-05-0
MSRP: $34.95
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356050/

Book Review by Robert Delwood,
Senior Programmer Writer

Let’s take a moment to stop learning about something and start learning about learning. That is, let’s try to understand how we acquire new information in order to retain it in a practical way. Andy Hunt’s Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware focuses on the brain itself, helping us to understand how it processes information with the goal being for us to adapt more efficiently.

Hunt is a programmer who noticed that in forty years of computer design, the industry’s defect density remained constant. If everything else was changing, the only other factor was people. Perhaps, he thought, we are addressing the wrong questions, and that we aren’t learning correctly. This book isn’t about whether we learn best by doing or being taught, although there is that aspect, it’s about redesigning and rewiring our brains.

First we must understand how learning works. The brain processes information in two modes. The first mode processes the conscious, language, and logical thought, what we commonly view as “thinking”. This is the mode we can explicitly control and is called linear or L-mode. The other mode is very different and processes information in our subconscious. It’s always searching for relationships among memories, finding patterns, and storing data. This is called rich or R-mode. This mode explains why a Jeopardy answer comes to you a week later. It also processes information that can’t be verbalized. Each one of us knows hundreds or thousands of people. We can’t describe their faces yet we recognize them by sight instantly, even twenty years later. Some actions don’t even require conscious thinking. A piano player doesn’t think about each note, it just happens, albeit through practice.

Working against us is that the brain processes so much information that it must make assumptions. Have you ever driven to work and realized you don’t recall anything from the last ten minutes? Chances are your brain decided nothing significant occurred and therefore didn’t index anything. In addition, we forget. Brain chemicals stop working, or older information gets replaced. We think of memories as “read-only” operations (remember, Hunt’s a programmer) but actually, they are “read-write” operations. In other words, the very act of recalling a memory risks changing it. It seems haphazard, but the trick is to make the two modes cooperate.

The traditional approach, the passive act of being taught, doesn’t work. In that regard, no one can “teach” us. We can be lectured all day about rock climbing but it doesn’t make us rock climbers. We have to “learn” and that is tied to experience. That’s why dreams seem so ethereal to describe: There is no experience. Facilitating cooperation between the two modes begins with Hunt’s maxim, “Lead with R-mode; follow with L-mode.” R-mode only needs the most meager of information. Even doodling is helpful since it ties information to an experience. For producing results, take the writer’s adage “write drunk, edit sober.” Not to be taken literally, this stresses letting the creativity flow at first, then use logical processes to refine the work. For learning, gain some experience first, learn more about it, and then dive into the experience.

As an example, he points out a rock climbing course (mentioned earlier). The instructor suited them up, let them practice climbing for 20 minutes, then lectured. As a result, the class gained context for the lecture and could better understand the discussion. This example also included some other fundamentals. They were provided a safe environment to learn (suiting up with supervision); failing was critical to their success (understanding right and wrong footwork); they had a goal in mind (an outdoor climb later in the course), and they were given the opportunity to play (practice climbing). The last point has taken on unfortunate meanings in the workplace, but play is anything that makes problem-solving fun. Finally, they were given a legitimate way to solve a problem, seemingly “doing nothing” by taking a break (“defocus to refocus”).

Many examples may seem familiar and this book attempts to consolidate these into a coherent process. The 271-page book goes into more details, most with concrete and practical examples. In nine chapters, his easy-to-read style takes the journey from being a novice to expert in steps, including understanding the brain, thinking in new ways, the process of learning, how to handle experiences, and redirecting learning processes. In a field with new age nuisances, and almost absurd theories, his approach is grounded and practical.

Managing Your Distractions

As if learning weren’t hard enough, we also have to deal with distractions. A distraction is any event that causes us to lose our train of thought from a deep involvement. Unlike a computer which is designed to switch contexts, the human brain is not. Research shows it takes twenty minutes to recover from a distraction. Ignoring the researchers, just ask any Sudoku player who had to stop to reboot the kid’s computer. Obviously, it doesn’t take much to fragment a work day. Academically, this is known as “cognitive overload,” – but we know it as multitasking, and put simply: It doesn’t work. We can’t concentrate on many things at once and do them all well. Therefore, manage your distractions such as by closing the office door, planning time for those tasks, or simply turning off your email. In a controversial English study, researchers found that bad email habits were more counterproductive than smoking cannabis. Some distractions just require personal fortitude such as avoiding Google, YouTube, Digg, or, perhaps, smoking cannabis.

Walking Problems Through

There are ways to encourage the R-Mode to reveal clues to solving a problem. One easy way is by walking. But you have to do it correctly. Do you know the difference between mazes and labyrinths? A maze has multiple entrances, exits, and presents choices along the way. High walls prevent you from seeing the goal. A maze is meant to be a thinking puzzle. In contrast, a modern labyrinth is meant for mediation. There is only one path and no decisions. Today, you’ll find them near churches, hospitals, and hospices by no accident. These are all places meant for healing and reflection. In our terms, they are meant to minimize L-Mode processes and let the R-Mode take over with a stream of consciousness. A walk on a solitary beach or a quiet woods has the same affect. Ironically, the key on these walks is to not actually think about the problem.

 

Giving of Your Time Effectively

By Guy Ball,
OCSTC Senior Member

What if I told you that you could learn new skills on someone else’s dime, try out new ideas with a “client” who is just appreciative that you’re helping, and maybe even network yourself into a new job or a new direction in the process?

A Win-Win Situation

I won’t use the “dirty ‘V’ word” to taint this conversation. Let’s just call it helping out, paying it forward, maybe even good karma. Works for me. I’ve been loaning my technical writing skills for free to a few nonprofit organizations over the last couple of years and, besides helping them with needed skills, I’ve received more benefits than I ever expected. I’ve learned how to adapt to new situations better, “do more with less,” and to think like a guerilla fighter in the war on providing maximum content on a minimum budget.

And I’m not alone. Look a little closer at our OCSTC organization and you’ll see people who maintain dynamic web sites, produce award-winning newsletters, coordinate educational programs, and organize some pretty great events—all on their own time and with no expectation of financial return.

But let’s talk about sharing communication skills that are, at times, in short supply in the outside world. How many nonprofit groups could benefit from a few hours of your help in rewriting mission statements, program brochures, or event instruction materials for their staff?

Do you want to grow your skill set or offer yourself some variation from the same types of material you do day in/day out? How about creating a newsletter for your local community foundation or an informative web site for a new cancer patient support group? Are you interested in history or science? Small museums are always in need of informative little brochures to help their visitors. They don’t need to be fancy; just well written. How about doing something that impacts not just one or two, but hundreds or thousands of people?

A few years ago, tech writer Sam Poppas was simply helping out when the teacher at his son’s school asked him to speak at career day. Sam puts in his 40-plus hours a week and was content coming home and just dealing with family stuff, but he liked the idea of sharing his career with students. After his presentation, the principal asked if he could help out by writing a brief summary of a program the school was trying to get a grant for. Sam saw how disorganized they were and eventually took over the whole grant application, and the school won the funds. Sam commented that the feeling of elation over the success was unlike anything he’s felt at work for a long time. And without Sam’s help, they probably would not have gotten the grant.

“Writers have a unique and valuable talent that can advance the missions of local nonprofits. Your service is needed now more than ever to help address critical community issues,” noted Dan McQuaid, CEO and president of Volunteer Center Orange County, the county’s leading group connecting skilled volunteers with organizations that need assistance. “Volunteer Center can connect you to make a meaningful contribution that utilizes and expands your skills.”

What sort of projects might you be able to do? I’ve mentioned a few. Others I’ve personally helped with include editing, formatting, and publishing minibooks for a local historical society; collaborating with graphic designers on a downtown walking tour guide; developing a video-based oral history program; and, my favorite, writing a book on local history for a mainstream publisher.

Did I get paid for any of this? Outside of the miniscule book royalty, nope, nada, nothing. Did I learn new tools, have amazing control over projects, and feel like I impacted a whole bunch of people? You bet!

Sam said it well. “I picked up new skills that I was able to bring to my work environment, and it’s made me a bit more valuable. And should something unfortunate happen to my job, I can move into grant writing to bring in some extra income.” (He’s already written a few more.)

Pace Yourself

Let’s talk about the caveats, though. If you’ve volunteered for anything, you know there are too few people doing it, and you will be called on for other unplanned roles. This is a great way to get burnt out on a relationship with a particular group as your workload increases. Try very hard to limit the extra work you find yourself taking on to the tasks you really want to do. Try to suggest better ways to do existing things so that you’re creating a value (and interest) to your work—not just filling in a gap. This philosophy has kept me interested in continuing what I do (15 years with one group alone!)

Try hard not to impact your family time or the open time that’s very important for you. I tend to do a lot of my work late at night once my family has gone to bed. Learn about the group and their operation before you overwhelm them with your great new ideas. Often, an organization operates a certain way because of deeper reasons—or personalities. Your new idea might be wonderful, but it could also hurt them as everyone scrambles to accommodate something you’re trying to change. (On the other hand, you could also be that breath of fresh air they’ve needed for years!)

Don’t start a project you can’t finish. I’ve helped out several groups with web sites that the previous volunteer never completed. The group was left hanging to dry when the well-meaning webmaster got busy with something else in life. Don’t enter into a project if you can’t finish or gracefully complete it in a short time. (Remember, these people will talk—and they will either relate how you “walk on water” or left a big mess that no one could fix.)

Lastly, and possibly just as important. Remember, someday, you will not be there to help. For recurring projects, try to make your work as simple to follow as possible. Try not to work in complex tools if you can. I’ve created newsletters in Word and web sites in FrontPage—all because I knew that whoever was going to take it on would not be using InDesign or Dreamweaver. I purposely designed things that can be easily updated by a novice. (I made sure they had lots of copy/paste solutions.)

The Benefits You Reap

At the start of this article, I spoke of the new skills you would learn, the new ideas you could bring to an appreciative client, and the new career direction you might stumble upon. The more you do, the more you will gain back. It’s worked for so many of us willing to give it a try. It’s really not rocket science. It’s smartly using your talents to help others.

Payback? Well, how about smiling faces, a very grateful organization, a successful event or project where you had serious input, and a wonderful feeling deep in your gut. All without worrying about how it was going to look on your yearly review?

And maybe, just maybe, a payback of a better, smarter you as you head off into the crazy job market.

Guy Ball is a senior technical writer for EADS North America Defense Test and Services in Irvine, California. He’s volunteered his technical writing skills for over 20 years and swears it gave him skills that let him grow his career and discover new opportunities. He’s written a couple of books, created a few organizational web sites, developed an award-winning history coloring book for kids, and works on “too many” unpaid writing projects that keep him up, happily, late at night. His web site is guyball.com.