97. A Software Engineer's Framework for Design Career Success

97. A Software Engineer’s Framework for Design Career Success

Episode 97

1:05:29

Dagna Bieda discusses her book “Brain Refactor” and how tech professionals can optimize their mindset for success. She explores common career obstacles and strategies for overcoming them.

What if you could refactor your brain like software to unlock your full potential?

I sit down with Dagna Bieda, a software engineer turned career coach and author of “Brain Refactor: Optimize Your Internal Code to Thrive in Tech & Engineering.” Dagna shares her journey from experiencing burnout to discovering the power of “brain refactoring” – a concept that applies software engineering principles to personal growth and career development.

We dig into the four main obstacles tech professionals face: imposter syndrome, burnout, interpersonal challenges, and self-marketing struggles. Dagna offers insights on debugging our mental “code,” emphasizing the importance of psychological distancing, openness to feedback, and developing strong interpersonal skills. We also discuss the often-overlooked value of soft skills in tech careers and how bootcamp graduates often progress faster due to their balanced skill set.

Whether you’re a UX designer, software engineer, or tech professional, you’ll find actionable advice on optimizing your mindset for success. Don’t miss this conversation that goes beyond technical skills to explore the human side of thriving in the tech industry.

Topics:
• 05:08 – Where did Brain Refactoring come from?
• 08:40 – About the book
• 12:06 – How do we debug our brain?
• 12:22 – Psychological distancing
• 13:20 – Be open to feedback
• 14:48 – Are you trying to DIY everything?
• 21:37 – Internal vs external dependencies
• 25:02 – How do we get feedback from colleagues
• 32:10 – Four obstacles that we generally run into
• 43:51 – When it comes to self-promotion, our mental model may be off

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Dagna on LinkedIn
• themindfuldev.com
• Get your copy of Brain Refactor

Dagna Bieda
Engineer turned Coach for ambitious Tech professionals & Author of Brain Refactor

About Dagna

Dagna is an Engineer turned Coach for Engineers and ambitious professionals in tech. With 10+ years of coding experience and coaching since 2019, she’s the tough love, “been in your shoes” kinda Coach. Her clients’ backgrounds include a spectrum ranging from ICs to CTOs, from small startups to FAANG+ companies, from 2 to 20+ years of experience, and from self-taught devs through career-changing Bootcamp grads to college grads and PhDs. She helps her clients reach their potential and exciting career opportunities by refactoring their brains.

Connect with Dagna on LinkedIn

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Meet your host

Jeremy Miller

Designer // Host // Mentor

I’m Jeremy. I’m a product designer from New Orleans. Here are some things I want you to know about me:

I rally around research
I’m dedicated to design
I’m crazy about collaboration
I’m sweet on the soft skills
I’m entranced by the end users
I’m passionate about the product

But most importantly, I know you can’t build great software without great relationships.

So join me here and learn about how to build truly great software.

97. A Software Engineer’s Framework for Design Career Success