Doug Arcuri is curious & learning, always!... and other things I learned recording his DevJourney
Tags: devjourney, career, learning, growth
Published: 2020-04-28 05:19:02

---
title: Doug Arcuri is curious & learning, always!... and other things I learned recording his DevJourney
published: true
description: Doug Arcuri is curious & learning, always! After interviewing him for the DevJourney podcast, here are the key takeways I personally took out of the discussion.
tags: DevJourney, Career, Learning, Growth
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/vfytis0s7qtko4exoagg.png
canonical_url: https://timbourguignon.fr/devjourney98
---

This week, I published Doug Arcuri's #DevJourney story on my eponym Podcast: [Software developer's Journey](https://devjourney.info). Among many other things, here are my main _personal_ takeaways:
* Doug started learning C++ to modify the Half-Life video game. He tinkered his way into learning C++ so to say. The modding followed him for many years and helped him forge his way to university.
* In his first job, Doug had a lot of fun creating software at the fringe between software and hardware. Being able to see and feel the product he helped design was a source of pride and joy.
* Doug's ability to learn quickly helped him progress through his career. He was asked on multiple occasions to research a new field and thus moved from WebDevelopment to iOS, then iOS to Android, and then from Developer to a more managerial job.
* Doug spend a long time in media companies. He advises to dig deep and learn the domain of the field you are working in.
* Even if you work remotely, don't forget human contact. Bring the team together once in a while, specially at the end of a project, during the "crunch phase".
* Doug was a manager when his team had to chose between sticking to Java or going to Kotlin (before it was officially endorsed by Google). I love how he presented the discussion with both sides of the equation: technical excellence and fun on one side, but also hiring-, learning- and productivity-issues on the other side.
* Learning from others and teaching to others, became one of his core values. Feedback is a gift that everyone should cherish. And this includes applying for jobs. Every interview is an opportunity to grow.
* Doug encourages new managers, to pick a narly problem that will take them through the whole organization. For Doug it was procuring Fussball tables for a team. Somehow, it was an outstanding problem that took him many months to solve, but which helped him understand how to navigate the organization. I love the idea!
* At some point, Doug used his blogging to communicate in a subtle way with his teams :D
* As a recruiter, Doug encourages us to look for passion, energy and motivation. Then, take chances on people, and finally, praise the small things.

Advice:
* Ask for more feedback, feedback is a gift!

Quotes:
* "Even if your company goes belly up, no-one can take the learnings from you!"
* "Take every opportunity to learn what others are building"

Thanks Doug for sharing your story with us!

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You can find the full episode and the shownotes on [devjourney.info](https://devjourney.info/Guests/98_DougArcuri.html) or directly [here on DEV](https://dev.to/devjourneyfm)

Did you listen to his story?

* What did you learn?
* What are your personal takeaways?
* What did you find particularly interesting?