Do you have to be a genius to be a developer?

It's important to take the same approach that Prefontaine took as developers. If you fall into the trap of thinking that only geniuses can become good coders, it will most likely lead to quitting when tasks become challenging. This is because our minds constantly are searching for ways to work less. And if you believe that being a genius is a requirement for development, you will have a built-in excuse for faltering on your developer learning journey.

The way the mind works

In a comprehensive educational study published in Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1/), kids were broken into two groups and taken through some academic assignments. Both groups scored around the same for the assignments. One of the groups were praised by their parents and teachers, and the focus of the compliments centered around how smart and talented the kids were.

The second group of students were complimented in a different manner. Instead of complimenting students on their innate ability, students were complimented on how hard they worked.

After going through this cycle of compliments, the same two groups of students were presented with new, and very challenging assignments.

The first group of students, the ones that had been told that they were brilliant, ended up giving up and not completing the tasks that were assigned to them. However, the second group of students, the ones that were complimented on their hard work, performed dramatically better than group 1.

The reason

So why did two groups of students have such different results when, by all appearances, the students had the same level of actual skill?

The researchers concluded that the students from group 1 felt like the top priority was maintaining their genius status. So, they quit the second assignment early because they didn't want to look bad and tarnish the genius label that they had been given.

However, the second group of students didn't feel the pressure to maintain a genius status. Instead, they wanted to maintain their new reputations as hard workers. With this mindset, the second set of students worked through the challenging topics instead of giving up.

A smarter approach

So, instead of taking the mindset that you need to be a genius to become a developer, take the mindset that best developers are also the hardest working developers. With this approach, your potential for skill is literally limitless. You are 100% in control of how good you will become as a coder. And your success will completely be determined how hard (and how smart) you are willing to work.