At Autotrader we have a book library for all developers to borrow from. First book I decided to read was Pragmatic Thinking & Learning by Andy Hunt which is from the Pragmatic Programmers series. I have to say I was very impressed.

Many believe and have believed that we have a natural limit to our intelligence and can be no more than that. The author tries to expel this belief. We all have a brain and it’s a well known fact that we only ever utilise a very small part of it.

The common belief is that our brain is split into a left and right side. Hunt refers to these as the L-mode and R-mode i.e. logical side and realisation (creative) side. The majority of us are either left or right brained and it’s this fact that limits our potential. We’ll often say to ourselves “I’m not really a very creative person” often though, that’s because our L-mode always seems to take over; it butts in takes control and doesn’t give the R-mode any time.

We can imagine our brain as a machine. Only one part of our brain can be doing anything at any one time (well unless you have multiple voices in your head; I’d see a doctor!) it’s either our logical side or the creative side that’s in control. However, to unlock this potential you need to stimulate those parts of your cortex you least use. As a programmer we have strong L-mode influences problem solving, critical thinking a general all round logical approach to everything there has to be a reason. We are in general though, weak on our R-mode functions. This part of the brain allows us to unlock creative ideas, blue-sky thinking and thinking out-of-the-box.

Hunt suggests a number of interesting techniques to open up this side of the brain. Normal suggestions include going out for a walk, not just going out for a walk and deliberately thinking about the problems you have but going out with a clear mind and letting thoughts just come to you. Have you ever been trying to think of the name of that actor in “that” age old film you talked about last week with a colleague. Ever found it bizarre how the name just pops into your head? Well that’s R-mode working in the background. It’s pretty slow at times but it gets there in the end, working all the time while your L-mode deals with all the day-to-day tasks.

Another interesting technique involves dumping every thought on a few sheets of A4 before you even have a shower or have breakfast in the morning. He calls it “morning pages”. Even if it’s a load of total rubbish that you write down eventually you’ll start to get your mind thinking overtime about the work you’re doing and you’ll also free it up to think about things that are more important to you.

There are a number of other things you can do such as increasing your focus (trying things like yoga or meditation for instance), using GTD methodologies, increasing productivity by limiting your distractions and change of contexts (using Quicksilver on the mac). The most important I thought though was to learn deliberately. Learning and putting the hours in just doesn’t cut it. You have to positive and really believe that what you’re doing is making a difference. If you believe that you’ll fail then you will.

Recently there’s been a book released called “Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice” which attempts to distill the myth that only those with supreme talent can make it to the top. I personally believe that with deliberate practise as Hunt describes you can truly reach your potential. Sure only a select few can ever be a world champion but many still have some ability to make it to the top echelon’s their field. Hunt tackles this in Pragmatic Thinking by talking about Learning through Teaching. In this teaching he describes not just telling a student what they’ve done wrong, but also subconsciously teaching the student how to do things right so they can see for themselves the result. More like feeling that they’ve done something right.

I suggest you have a read and tell me what you think. Remember it’s never too late to change the way you think for the better.

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About James

I'm a software developer and tech-head by nature, having worked with a number of the UK's top tech companies including The Hut Group (the UK's current fastest growing startup), AutoTrader (the UK's no.1 automotive ads marketplace) and currently working as a Software Engineer for the Future Media Games Grid team at Media City for the BBC. I also like to create websites, blog and play chess in my own time having 19 years experience of playing at a high level.