APIs make sense to developers
How does that even work?
Imagine that your brain is wired to an API, and that one of the endpoints triggers you to be absolutely furious when it’s called. All the other emotions: joy, sadness, shame, fear, and love have endpoints as well.
The code that handles responses on those endpoints is installed in us as we grow up, but it's not immutable. With the toolbox of emotional techniques I provide, that code can be refactored.
01
It's a Public API
We can't stop endpoints form being called, but we are in control of how we respond
02
The Toolbox
Over years of working with people as they worked through their strongest emotions I learned some really useful tools that facilitate the process.
Why Am I Talking About This?
It Is Important
Being a good developer isn't just about slinging code; we're part of a community. Interacting with others in a community means feelings are involved.
But feelings are messy and uncomfortable, so why can't you just ignore them? Because emotional skills  are critical for working well on a team, and for writing code every day.
01
Cognitive Deficits
Research shows that not handling your emotions well can impair execuitve function and cognitive processing.
02
Cognitive Benefits
Conversely, developing emotional fluency is correlated with better cognition, better relationhships and better physical health.
For information on booking this, or any of my talks, visit my Speaking Page
Talk Videos OSCON 2018
There are talks that make you think... Then there are talks like @EmotionalAPI that make you reexamine your whole life. #selfconf
If you ever have the chance to see this in person, take it. https://twitter.com/EmotionalAPI/status/910219659181481984
@EmotionalAPI @johnksawers is terrifically courageous for sharing himself. #devopsdaysBOS
@johnksawers just wrecked me with his @EmotionalAPI talk. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. #devopsdaysBOS
@EmotionalAPI I am a licensed social worker newer to tech industry and found everything you said to be on point and relevant. Great job!
Dear @abglassman, @EmotionalAPI, @eacarlson: thank you for sharing your stories with us. Who cries at a dev conference? ?â¤ï¸ #abstractions
.@EmotionalAPI gave a brilliant presentation. Using API metaphor makes feelings more approachable and lower-stakes. http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho
Emotional baggage as "code you wrote when you were 5." Insightful & honest talk from @EmotionalAPI #abstractions ? http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho/
Resources
Blog Posts
- Programmers' stress levels can accurately predict the quality of their code
- Crying
- How Anxiety Warps Your Perception
- Why Angry Employees Are Bad For Business
- Why Self-Compassion Works Better Than Self-Esteem
- Emotions As State Machines
- Communing With Our Demons: Metaprogramming Automatic Thinking
- Teaching Your Child Emotional Agility
- Want to Succeed? Become Self Aware
- Negative Emotions Are Key to Well-Being
- Introverts, Emotional Processing, Self-Esteem and Salary Negotiations
Videos
Books
David Rock
Your Brain At Work
David Rock takes the reader inside the heads -literally- of a modern two-career couple as they mentally process their workday and show us how a more nuanced understanding of the brain allows us to better organize, prioritize, remember, and process our daily life.
Daniel Goleman
Emotional Intelligence
Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.
Amy Cuddy
Presence
Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives' biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret.
By accessing our personal power, we can achieve "presence," the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we're making on others and instead adjust the impression we've been making on ourselves.
Guy Winch
Emotional First Aid
We all sustain emotional wounds. Failure, guilt, rejection, and loss are as much a part of life as the occasional scraped elbow. But while we typically bandage a cut or ice a sprained ankle, our first aid kit for emotional injuries is not just understocked—it’s nonexistent.
Fortunately, there is such a thing as mental first aid for battered emotions. Drawing on the latest scientific research and using real-life examples, practicing psychologist Guy Winch, Ph.D. offers specific step-by-step treatments that are fast, simple, and effective. Prescriptive and unique, Emotional First Aid is essential reading for anyone looking to become more resilient, build self-esteem, and let go of the hurts and hang-ups that are holding them back.