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Ben James
Ben James

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Distinguished Devs #0: Introduction

This post marks the first in a series where I will interview outstanding developers who perform at their peak to lead large open source projects and make an impact at top companies.

The series will primarily focus on learning, productivity and motivation, but will also talk about tools and technical tips/tricks.

The point of the series is to coax out actionable advice that you can apply to take your dev game to the next level.

The first instalment of series should be out soon, but if you have any particular questions that you'd like me to ask in future interviews, feel free to drop them in the comments. And if you're an elite developer leading a large open source project or at a senior level in a large company, do get in touch.

Don't forget to hit follow if you're interested in the rest of the series!

Top comments (10)

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kspeakman profile image
Kasey Speakman

Seems interesting, but the title turns me off.

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dohkodev profile image
Christopher Vicuña

Inspiring devs instead of elite devs

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gergelyorosz profile image
Gergely Orosz • Edited

+1 on the content being interesting, but the title could be less “elitist”.

I hope to see a nice diversity of developers from different backgrounds, industries, locations, environments and viewpoints.

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bengineer profile image
Ben James

Thanks for the feedback on this!
I will definitely think about a new name.

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josephthecoder profile image
Joseph Stevens

Because of the word elite? :/

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kspeakman profile image
Kasey Speakman • Edited

Certainly. Any number of adjectives could be interesting: successful, high performing, rich, famous, inspiring, etc. For those terms, it could be (more-or-less) interesting to hear why the person was chosen for interview and some actionable advice from them. But to hear why an individual is "elite" and how to be that, I could not be bothered to care.

It could very well be that the creator of this is thinking in terms of an "elite military unit" which consistently succeeds in dangerous missions. But our field being what it is, the term comes across as more of a divisive social label, especially when applied to an individual.

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kerpekri profile image
Kristaps Kerpe

+1

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jacobherrington profile image
Jacob Herrington (he/him)

Really interested in this, I've had success following this model myself.

One of my goals, when I interview for my podcast, has been to hear about the crappy parts of their careers too, is that something you'll touch on? Imposter syndrome, bad jobs, and knowledge gaps?

Looking forward to hearing more.

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bhupesh profile image
Bhupesh Varshney 👾

this looks promising, looking forward for the series

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fultonbrowne profile image
Fulton Browne

This looks great.