Summary of RailsConf 2015 - Closing Keynote

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

This video features a keynote speaker discussing how to overcome difficulties experienced by men in the workplace. He describes how he has attained a sense of ease in his work, and offers advice for others seeking to do the same.

• 00:00:00 This talk focuses on the difficulties men experience in becoming comfortable at work. Aaron Patterson describes how a farmer hired a young man who said he could sleep when the wind blew, and how this young man turned out to be wrong. The talk ends with Patterson's advice for overcoming these difficulties.
• 00:05:00 The speaker talks about how he strives for ease in his work, which includes finding freedom from anxiety and being able to use tools easily and with precision. He also talks about how athletes seem to move with little effort and how this inspires him to strive for the same level of facility in his programming.
• 00:10:00 The speaker discusses how he has worked to attain a sense of ease in his work, and how doing so has helped him achieve greater productivity. He points to three factors that have helped him: knowing that his work matters, having a sense of urgency about it, and measuring the impact of his work. He encourages others to do the same in order to increase their output.
• 00:15:00 The speaker talks about how important it is to have confidence in your code before you ship it, and offers a variety of different workflows that can help increase that confidence.
• 00:20:00 The speaker describes how working on a project with pride and feeling proud of what you do can reduce anxiety and worry. He also explains how pursuing this feeling of pride can be valuable information and something that can help you improve your work.
• 00:25:00 RailsConf 2015 featured a keynote on how to trust your own curiosity and ideas. The speaker talked about how he became more confident in his abilities after losing confidence in himself. He shared that he encourages his own ideas by taking a half hour to figure out if the data supports them. This helped him vet ideas more quickly and efficiently.
• 00:30:00 The speaker talks about how, over the course of 10 years as a programmer, he learned to be more accountable and how this helped him to be more successful. He goes on to talk about how he uses estimates to make public commitments and how this has helped him to be more successful. Finally, he talks about how being accountable can also be a scary process, but how it is ultimately a good thing.
• 00:35:00 The speaker discusses how one habit of interpreting feedback contributes to ease for her. She describes how, after receiving feedback, she is able to recognize and understand what is being said, and therefore stay in a positive mindset.
• 00:40:00 The speaker describes a variety of techniques they use to ease their anxiety and feel more in control during difficult situations. One of these techniques is becoming a beginner at something, which forces them to confront their fears in a controlled setting. The speaker also mentions that they practice meditation and service in order to stay grounded and positive. Finally, the speaker recommends working with a partner to make progress on these techniques.
• 00:45:00 This video tells a story about a farmer who was worried about a storm that was coming, and his wife reassured him that everything was already taken care of. The farmer then went to bed, but the wind actually blew through the window and undressed him.