Don't Be a Knowledge Hoarder

I feel lucky that I surround myself with very knowledgeable and bright people. It wasn't always like that. I experienced situations where others would hold any learning for themselves, and only share them at the right time to get the spotlight. The first mistake I made was doing almost exactly the same. While I didn't try to get into the spotlight I would use anything I knew as a secret way to deliver higher value. I always preferred to go about it more quietly, but my desire to share and teach, thankfully, prevailed in the end. I'm afraid I was using it as a defensive mechanism "just in case". Looking back I feel silly but I had a reason. People would take credit from your findings rather than being transparent, I always hated that but I thought the only way to avoid it was to keep things for myself.

Believe it or not, I don't blame those people too much. They were insecure and at a place in their career where they needed a lot of external validation. The poor leadership at the time definitely didn't help creating a healthier environment. My experience at later companies, especially now at MongoDB, has been incredibly different. People have been eager to share, have a platform to do it, and also look forward to learn from you! When I was introduced to this the first time I was absolutely thrilled.

There are a few reasons why sharing knowledge is important. It's a way to mentor others and it acts as a force multiplier in a team. This is a big reason why I've always considered it as a growth area since I started being a manager. The benefits are both personal (now you put yourself out there as someone who knows a bunch about X) and selfless (now everyone who listened has learned something that can help them grow and learn). It really is a win-win.

There are several ways as a Software Engineer to do so including code reviews, pair programming, technical document reviews, coaching, and many more. If you can, I would actually open a platform for it. I did in the past and I was quite happy when I joined MongoDB to see this already being a thing. We actually have several ways to go about it, one is at the org level, this usually includes around 20+ engineers and we call them Round Tables. You can really share anything in tech you find interesting. There are other ones that go from voluntary participation, to engineering all-hands type of visibility.

I wouldn't recommend starting with the highest level of visibility but find a more intimate group to get the ball rolling. My beginning was me and two more people, as I felt comfortable I started involving more and more engineers until other folks felt good about actively participating rather than listening only. To foster that at MongoDB even more I created an intimate space within my team where we share anything in a smaller setting informally. Creating the safe space to ask and share your knowledge is fundamental for camaraderie.

Thoughts

If you learn something go out there and share it, I do it here in writing, I do it weekly at minimum with my team in many different forms. I can almost certainly guarantee you that something you learned will be new to others, if you're unsure dig deeper into that topic to extrapolate as much value as you can. This is also a good exercise for your communication skills, presentation skill, and to consolidate your understanding of a topic. If you suffer from impostor syndrome, don't even think about it, share with people you're close with first so they can review your content and then go wild with a wider audience. Take it one step at a time. So go ahead, don't keep it a secret!