My wife and I have this game we play.
Whenever we meet someone new, I always get some sort of impression about them. Like, maybe it’s a married couple and I’ll get the sense they’re really unhappy and will get divorced soon. Or maybe they’re pregnant, but haven’t told anyone. Or, sometimes it’s someone who is really nice and seems like a good dude, but I’m like, “Nah, he’s a dirtbag. I can tell.”
It’s always something like that.
And, then we wait and see…
Whether I’m right or not.
And, I nail it more often than not.
Had a funny example the other day. We were watching that showing Cooks vs Cons on Food Network and this lady came on and gave her little bio they give at the start. And, I told my wife right then, “She’s a con. She’s a school teacher or something like that.. but she works with kids.”
So, we watched.
And, sure enough…
Turns out she was a home daycare provider.
Now, I bring this up because it’s something that’s actually important for web developers. We often talk so much about the technical side of things and everything you need to know and do on that end… but there’s a whole other skillset that involves dealing with other people.
In particular, clients or bosses, customers…
Whoever you’re building stuff for.
And, that “people” side of things is often much more important…
And more more valuable long-term…
In terms of you getting and keeping work.
I know “developers” who actually know very little code who have had long successful careers simply because they’re really easy to work with. People hire them because they just like dealing with them and they’re willing to overlook the lack of super awesome tech skill.
Anyway, reading people is a big part of that “people” skillset.
Nice thing… it is a skill.
I picked it up selling shoes.
Face-to-face sales will teach how to read people very quickly.
You have to, otherwise, you’ll suck at it.
But, it’s simple things… like the words someone uses. Or, their eyes. Sometimes, it’s the way they seem to be over-compensating (e.g. being too nice, etc) or you can tell they’re anxious, but trying to hide it. If you know just a little psychology and how people think and then you just pay attention… you can get real good at reading people.
Then, use that to make your clients extra happy with your work.
Or, make your boss like you.
To get more customers for your app.
Whatever it is…
The ability to read people is an valuable skill that can give you a leg up over other developers.
Use it.
And, anyone can learn how to do it.
Anyway, take that for what it’s worth.
Just something that popped into this crazy brain of mine today.
Aight, onto biznass…
Just a few days left on Udemy’s 10-buq deal. So, if you want to get in on this one, you’ll need to do it quickly… before it’s gone. The discount link is here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/may. Click to trigger the sitewide discount, then search for the dev topics you most need to learn right now and snap 5 or 10 courses. You get lifetime access so you don’t need to take them all now. Just grab them while they’re cheap and then take them when you need them.
Easy peasy.
Aight, that’s it.
Later,
John
P.S. Watch the video version of this message here:
https://youtu.be/nJYhiEoeAVs
Listen to the audio version here:
https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/how-to-become-a-nostradamus-of-code-so-you-can-get-more-it-jobs
