What’s Your Superpower?

“What’s your superpower?” is a question that I usually ask when I interview job candidates, and if you follow Geeking Out Podcast, it’s also a question that I like to ask my guests.

I like asking this question because I believe that everyone has something special to bring to the table, and it’s a way for them to show off their unique skills and talents. After all, we’re not all clones.

So you may be wondering: what’s MY superpower?

My superpower is solving technical problems, and explaining my solution in an accessible manner, usually through my favourite medium: the blog post.

I’ve come to realize that I’m REALLY REALLY good at solving some gnarly-ass problems by taking bits of information from various sources, like blog posts, Stack Overflow posts, online docs, and even yes, the occasional video (though not my favourite way to consume information), and using that information to solve the problem at hand. And by golly, I’m actually a pretty fast problem solver. (Thanks, ADHD brain powered by high functioning anxiety.)

Which leads me to the other part of my superpower: explaining technical in a fun and accessible manner. When you read my blog posts, you are talking to me. Maybe that’s my aversion to bullshit coming through. I worked in large enterprise for a chunk of my career, and until recently, I never felt like I could be myself. I wanted the opposite of that reflected in my writing. That means taking folks through my learning journey, which includes admitting when I’ve done stupid things, and documenting gotchas that I encountered in my learning journey, so that readers can avoid making the same mistakes I made. And if I can help one person understand something better so that they can do their job, or inspire them to write their own blogs and give their own talks, then I’ve done MY job.

So what’s YOUR superpower? Share in the comments!

Originally published at https://geekingoutpodcast.substack.com.