Do you? Do you feel the flow?

Jack Green: There is something about yourself that you don't know. Something that you will deny even exists until it's too late to do anything about it. It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the shitty boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. "Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special." We share an addiction. We're approval junkies. We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The "hip, hip, hoo-f...g-rah." Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we're just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others.

A funny quote from Revolver movie

So ... yeah :)

I'm the winner of third edition of Best Innovative Minds at ASSIST Software

My idea was quite simple.

 A collaboration between USV and ASSIST in order to create a course dedicated to students who want a job in WEB Development area.

The basics of my idea were represented by a simple FLOW graph, first created and presented by Mihály Csíkszentmihály.

There are 3 simple states:

1. You are in state of boredom, your abilities are much higher than the challenges that you are facing.
2. You are in state of panic, your abilities are much lower than the challenges that you are facing.
3. You are in state of flow, your abilities are aligned with the challenges that you are facing.

I strongly believe that when the students are getting their first job, no matter in what area, most of their time is spent in the frustration or panic zone. I know that because I've been there, I felt it. I felt the power of frustration over my mind when I got my first job.

Having my experience in mind I proposed this idea for a course/workshop that could help the students to learn the basics of web development. A course that will contain the most up to date information, a course that will be practice oriented and that could take a student from his "on what planet I am" state to the "junior" state regarding web development. A state where the student can successfully participate in a technical conversation with other employees and perhaps bring new ideas to the table.

As a result of this course the students could have in general a better life experience when they will get their first tasks at their new shiny web developer job. That doesn't mean the students won't have challenges that surpassed their skills, it means they will be better prepared to tackle them and in the end they even risk to feel the FLOW.

I'm writing all this here because I don't want this to be another "great" or well :) at least good idea that will be remain just an idea.

So…

One of my new year resolution will be to continue working on this idea in order to make it reality. Otherwise I'm just another approval junkie. I mean, I am anyway, but at least I could add something new to that :).

Happy New Year!