Understand how the technical/non-technical chasm forms, and how to start building a bridge toward the future.
About this event
Are you technical or non-technical? Do you have “soft” skills or “hard” skills? Are you good with machines or good with people? In software, these questions come up all the time. They may seem harmless, but in reality, they’re false binaries that reinforce logical fallacies, biases, and stereotypes that aren’t aligned with empirical evidence.
When it comes to software skills, it’s time to move beyond an either/or mentality and embrace a both/and approach. When we do, we can collaborate better, build better products, and ship higher-quality code faster. But how exactly do we go about bridging this deep divide?
In this presentation, Andrea Goulet will take you on a journey into the past to uncover the reasons these categorizations formed in the first place. You’ll learn specific problems along with specific solutions. By understanding how the technical/non-technical chasm formed, you’ll learn how to start building a bridge toward the future.
About Andrea
Andrea Goulet has pioneered the use of empathy-based software development practices for over a decade, codifying a concrete definition and framework for Empathy-Driven Development (EmDD).
For over a decade, Andrea has led a consultancy, Corgibytes, that specializes in software modernization and technical debt management. She's seen first-hand how effective empathy can be for tackling some of the toughest technical challenges and is on a mission to operationalize and contextualize empathy so that technologists can apply it effectively. In 2022, Andrea co-founded a second company, Heartware, which helps organizations embed empathy into their culture, communication practices, and codebases.
Through her online courses, Andrea has taught 50,000+ students how skills like empathy can help software teams work together better and ship higher-quality code faster. She is a host of the Legacy Code Rocks podcast, co-founder of the online community Empathy in Tech, has been featured in prominent industry media, such as The First Round Review, and has received numerous awards for her leadership.
Andrea is a sought-after speaker and trainer for organizations and events around the world. She is currently writing her first book, Empathy-Driven Software Development. Published through Pearson, it is expected to be available in early 2023.
