The Cumulative Effect of Good IT Habits

The IT sector more than ever requires the adoption of daily best practices to achieve excellence. Inspired by Darren Hardy’s principles in the book ‘The Compound Effect – Multiply Your Success!’ (published in 2010), this article demonstrates how adopting good habits will radically transform the IT field. The goal is to show professionals and businesses how simple and regular actions can lead to significant and lasting successes.

The Basics of the Cumulative Effect

The cumulative effect, as described by Darren Hardy, suggests that small efforts, when consistent and accumulated, generate exponential results. This philosophy is particularly beneficial in IT, where technologies and requirements are rapidly evolving.

James Clear, in his book ‘Atomic Habits’ (2018), reinforces this idea by explaining that tiny and seemingly insignificant changes accumulate to produce remarkable results. This approach is essential for IT professionals seeking to remain competitive and innovative.

‘Habits are the invisible path to success.’

— James Clear, ‘Atomic Habits’

Concrete exercise to put into practice: “The Habit Journal”

Encourage each member of the Scrum team to keep a daily journal of their work habits. This could include the following:

• Time spent on specific tasks,
• Breaks,
• Moments of personal development.

The goal is to visualize where time is spent most efficiently, and to identify habits that optimize time management.

5 Effective Development Habits

Code quality is at the heart of the long-term performance of a development project. As highlighted by Robert Martin in ‘Clean Code’ (book published in 2008), clean code is much easier to maintain and extend, reducing future costs and bug risks.

Martin advocates the adoption of principles such as the SOLID principles to structure code in a robust and modular way.

The SOLID principles are as follows:

• 1. Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) – A class should have only one reason to change.
• 2. Open/Closed Principle (OCP) – Software components should be open for extension but closed for modification.
  
• 3. Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP) – Subtypes must be substitutable for their base types.
  
• 4. Interface Segregation Principle (ISP) – Clients should not be forced to depend on interfaces they do not use.
  
• 5. Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP) – High-level modules should not depend on low-level modules; both should depend on abstractions.

Additionally, Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow, recommends adopting regular code reviews to maintain high standards and foster peer learning, a practice that strengthens overall product quality and developer skills.

Time Management and Productivity

According to Francesco Cirillo, creator of the Pomodoro Technique (2006), working in intervals of 25 minutes followed by short breaks greatly improves concentration and productivity.

This technique notably helps IT professionals combat fatigue and maximize their efficiency over extended periods.

Continuous Improvement and Learning

Additionally, precise task planning, including realistic estimation of the time needed for each project, reduces stress and increases job satisfaction, leading to increased productivity and a better work-life balance.

The IT field is constantly evolving due to the rapid emergence of new technologies. Therefore, adopting a continuous learning approach is strongly encouraged to remain competitive.

Linda Rising in *The Patterns Handbook* (published in 1998) proposes strategies for adopting a mindset of continuous learning, such as “Learning Via Feedback Loops,” which encourages regular reflection on past experiences to draw lessons and adjust accordingly.

The learning feedback loops will determine if your learning strategy is effective.

How does it work?

You need to define what you want to learn, the level of skill you want to achieve, and when you want to have this skill in your arsenal.

Using a SMART goal framework is an excellent starting point. It helps you set goals that are:

• specific,
• measurable,
• achievable,
• relevant,
• timely.

Goals are just a mental signpost indicating the direction to take. Results are the true fruits of your labor; they are the outcomes at the end of your strategy.

So you will need to specify the results of your learning task that you want to achieve in order to make the best decisions on:

• what you need to learn,
• how you learn,
• and why you learn (probably the most important point, the WHY).

This practice is crucial for developers seeking to master new technologies or development methodologies.

Collaboration and Communication

The most effective teams are not those with the smartest members, but those that excel in these three areas:

• communication,
• empathy,
• mutual support.

Practices borrowed from the agile method ‘Scrum’, such as stand-up meetings, sprint retrospectives and collaborative project management tools like Jira or Trello are essential for maintaining smooth and effective communication.

Furthermore, asynchronous communication tools like Slack allow teams to discuss and solve problems in real-time, strengthening collaboration and overall development team efficiency.

By integrating these practices and habits into their daily routine, teams operating in the IT sector can not only improve their efficiency and productivity but also contribute to their long-term health and the success of their projects and organizations.

‘A clean code is always felt as written by someone who cares.’

— Michael Feathers, ‘Working Effectively with Legacy Code’

Concrete exercise to put into practice: “The weekly team code review”

Organize code review sessions where the team collectively examines code portions. This is similar to a Sprint Review. This ceremony, and ultimately a good habit, not only improves code quality but also enhances everyone’s skills through mutual learning and sharing of best practices. Collective intelligence comes into play here.

The “20% time” rule allocated to a passion project

You can encourage continuous innovation within your Scrum teams with the “20% time” rule. This protocol gives your team members the opportunity to dedicate 20% of their work time to working on personal projects they are passionate about. This type of organization unleashes innovation and creativity by allowing individuals to explore topics that interest them and consequently be creative and innovative. This will have an impact on ongoing software development projects.

The cumulative effect of good IT habits is profound and lasting. Adopting disciplined daily practices may seem trivial at first glance, but these actions add up to make significant progress.

For those ready to embrace these changes, our software company offers customized solutions in software development and team management to help cultivate a culture of continuous success.

Quiz to test your knowledge on the cumulative effect of good actions in IT

Here is a multiple-choice quiz designed to test knowledge on good habits in IT and their impact, based on the information discussed in the article.

Question 1: Which programming principle recommended by Robert Martin helps maintain clean and maintainable code?

A) YAGNI (You Aren’t Gonna Need It) Principle

B) SOLID Principles

C) DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) Principle

Question 2: According to Francesco Cirillo, which technique improves concentration and productivity by dividing work into specific periods?

A) The Pomodoro Technique

B) The Kanban Method

C) Time Blocking

Question 3: What is the key result of the most effective Scrum teams?

A) Teams with the smartest members are the most productive.

B) Teams that use the most advanced technology are the most productive.

C) Teams that communicate openly and support each other’s contributions are the most effective.

Correct answers:

1. Answer B

2. Answer A

3. Answer C