Software Team Sociology: Learning Outcomes for 2022

Thursday, January 19

Learning Outcomes for 2022

ocus Topics for 2021

Focus	People	Tasks
Abstract	Learn to Learn	Category Theory & Lambda Calculus
Concrete	Reducing Stress & Refocusing the Mind	JavaScript & Knockout

Changes for 2022

In the second half of 2021, I changed jobs. As a result, JavaScript became less relevant, and Swift took its place as the main language in my new role. I also felt that I had internalized the principles of "Learning to Learn" well enough to move on. I replaced it with a new focus on leadership and communication.

Wellbeing remained a priority—I carried it forward into 2022. My progress in category theory during 2021 was limited, so I decided to continue that journey.

New Focus Topics for 2022

Focus	People	Tasks
Abstract	Communication, Coaching & Leadership	Category Theory, Abstract Algebra & Lambda Calculus
Concrete	Reducing Stress & Refocusing the Mind	Swift

Category Theory

In 2022, I leaned heavily into category theory—perhaps too heavily. I often found myself caught in a web of unfamiliar mathematical concepts. Still, I managed to lift my understanding from a shaky beginner level to a more solid intermediate grasp.

Along the way, I was repeatedly told that category theory becomes easier with a foundation in abstract algebra, so I added that to my learning path. Most of the examples I encountered were written in Haskell, so I started exploring that as well.

Translating theory into practice proved difficult. Swift incorporates many category-theoretic ideas—optionals, sequences, throwing contexts, and concurrent contexts are all monads in disguise—but it doesn’t present them in a unified way. Without the theoretical background, the common structure is easy to miss.

Moreover, Swift lacks support for higher-kinded types, which makes it hard to generalize over these abstractions. While libraries like Bow attempt to bridge this gap and simulate higher-kinded types, I didn’t explore them deeply. That may be something for 2023.

Leadership

Despite category theory dominating my attention, I did make progress here too. I even found opportunities to apply what I learned at work.

In truth, many of these leadership activities were natural extensions of things I’d already been doing—or things I had started back in 2021 under my “Learning to Learn” focus. Still, I felt a shift in intent: I was deliberately developing leadership skills, rather than just picking them up incidentally.

Wellbeing

For the most part, I maintained the wellbeing routines I had developed in 2021. However, stress and insomnia began creeping back in. I suspect this was due to letting my music practice lapse.

While exercise and mindfulness helped, they weren’t quite enough. Playing an instrument has always been my most effective way to decompress, and reset. Without it, my stress levels noticeably increased.

Swift

Swift remains a fast-moving target. Each year, Apple updates Swift itself along with Xcode, iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS—not to mention a growing ecosystem of libraries and APIs.

While I learned a lot in 2022, I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface. I’m even still working through videos from the previous WWDC. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Conclusion

All up I was less effective in converting my learning into day to day behaviour change in 2022 than I was in 2021. But I still made some good progress.