Paul Sobocinski

People over process.
Creativity beats efficiency.
Habits before goals.

Me in a nutshell

I support professionals in their pursuit of technical excellence in Software Engineering practices. I believe in fostering professional growth through skills-based learning; I also believe that Technical Coaching plays a crucial role in unlocking our full potential as Software Engineering professionals.

Selected content

Here are some of my recent articles and talks organized by topic. You can find more of my writings on Coder Spikes, my personal blog.

Generative AI

Increasing code habitability by using AI coding assistants (LeadDev New York 2024): The volume of code in production today, coupled with the pressure to deliver new features, is unprecedented. Will GenAI save us from this issue or cause it to proliferate?

TDD with GitHub Copilot (Martin Fowler's blog): A memo on incorporating GitHub Copilot into a standard TDD workflow.

The Consultant and her LLM: A short story co-written with ChatGPT 4 and illustrated with Midjourney.

Pair Programming

Maximizing Pair Programming Flow: Using the four conditions of Flow to improve pairing effectiveness.

Flow in Software Engineering: Should we avoid it or embrace it?

The Enigmatic Navigator: What are they actually supposed to do during a pairing session?

Pairing with a Subject Matter Expert: How doing so can address the root causes of technical debt.

Strong-Style Pairing: Overview, benefits, and usage contexts.

Ping-Pong Pairing: The foundational pairing style.

Pair Programming Misunderstood: How I thought it wasn't for me, until it was.

Product Teams

Silo-ball, Async Fixation, and Deep Work Obsession: An emerging set of anti-patterns in the age of remote work.

The "Hero" Anti-pattern: And how to prevent it on product teams.

Product Team Anti-patterns: And how pair programming may help.

The Importance of Creativity on Product Teams: How creativity can apply to team retrospectives.

Coaching and Teaching

Learning Archetypes: A learning and facilitation aid for skills-oriented workshops such as coderetreat.

Collaboration in the Problem Space: Using the CEDAR model for effective one-on-one feedback.

Lessons from an Education Revolutionary: How both software and education can thrive in the face of change.

Learning Frameworks for Skills Acquisition: Avoid habits that lead to progression plateaus.