What I Learned About Coaching in the Back of an Ambulance
summary
A medical emergency that causes temporary loss of speech forces a rethink: coaching improves by ditching a bag of techniques and instead preparing, investing time, and using storytelling and concrete engineering habits as tools. A program called Good to Great runs about ten to twelve one‑hour sessions pairing senior and junior engineers; shifting to set down the techniques makes effectiveness go way up while effort goes way down. Emphasis is on tangible prep (mocking TDD on a student’s code), follow‑up, and be your best self in the conversation.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Welcome to Bay Area
- 1:27Ambulance ride lessons
- 2:53Early mentorship at Tektronix Labs
- 7:51Facebook and coaching discovery
- 12:30Collapse of over-engineered coaching
- 13:13Losing speech mid-session
- 16:35Rebuilding coaching fundamentals
- 18:44Best self as ultimate technique
- 20:12Opening the floor for audience questions
- 20:54Urgency versus well-being
- 23:00Code review feedback
- 23:21Delays versus failing fast
- 25:17Preparing for coaching conversations
- 27:23Scaling mentorship at Facebook
- 29:14Storytelling in coaching
- 29:55Poker and time management
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