In the tech world, we talk a lot about “blockers.” Sometimes it’s a bug, sometimes it’s legacy code. But from my 15+ years of experience, the hardest blocker to remove is often decision paralysis.
A few years ago, I witnessed this with a group of CS students. Their engineering thesis deadline was looming, their supervisor was unreachable, and their progress? Non-existent. They had the skills, but they were stuck in a loop of panic rather than production.
What would a typical consultant do? Send an email with “best practices.” What did the “Empathic Engineer” do? I introduced them to Pizza Driven Development. 🍕
I decided to cut the B.S. I drove to the university, picked up the whole crew, and drove them out to my place in the countryside. The deal was simple: It’s just us, the computers, and coffee. Pizza will be served only after we see a solid action plan.
It was a temporary lockdown. We sat there for hours. What exactly did we do?
- Stopped the Chaos: Deep breaths and zero distractions.
- Ate the Elephant One Bite at a Time: We broke the terrifying project down into small, actionable tasks.
- Shadow Supervising: I did quick code reviews, helped with technical drawings, and straightened out the logic while they coordinated.
It turned out the biggest challenge wasn’t the tech stack; it was coordination. They needed someone to say: “Okay, enough talking, let’s ship this.”
The result? Momentum. 🚀
I probably spent more time with them than their actual professor, but seeing them cross the finish line was worth it. And the best reward wasn’t just them getting their degrees, but this small note in their official thesis acknowledgments:
“To Eng. Anna Cieśnik for help in coordinating the team members.”
You can verify this on page 5 of their thesis, publicly available here (PDF).
To me, this is what #Mentoring4IT is all about. It’s not just about pointing out syntax errors. It’s about being there where technology meets humanity. It’s about removing obstacles—sometimes with expertise, sometimes with empathy, and sometimes… with a forced trip to the countryside.
The Lesson: If your project is stuck and your team is running in circles, you might not need a new framework. You might need someone to help you break the elephant into pieces and get moving.
At acasta.it, we turn “impossible” into “done.”
☕ Is your project stuck? Let’s grab a virtual coffee. Let’s see how we can turn your blockers into a success story.
