I have a simple method that worked well for me in my last job, where I switched industries completely and was definitely underwater. First I became friends with everyone I could. Then identified the most mature teammate with the most tenure, and the smartest teammate who clearly generated the most value for the company.
Anytime I got stuck on a problem for more than a few hours, I asked the greybeard for a quick chat. He was pretty always willing to hear me out, let me break down my understanding, then rebuild all my faulty assumptions. His time was relatively cheap but his knowledge base relatively valuable, so with him I did deep dives.
The smart hacker guy I watched from a distance. Any time I saw him merge some ludicrous Rube Goldberg type commit I’d send him a quick DM, knowing his time was precious. I’d fire off a few quick questions and try to glean as much insight into his critical work before he scurried off to the next apparently invaluable task.
I think approaching the problem this way, leveraging the “implicit theories” embedded in the teammates heads, is the surest and most efficient way to ramp up, besides the obvious advice like RTFM and gloss over the relevant textbooks. Always remember to make yourself useful first. No accomplished engineer will ever turn down a well intentioned and friendly favor! “Team work makes the dream work,” as they say.
Anytime I got stuck on a problem for more than a few hours, I asked the greybeard for a quick chat. He was pretty always willing to hear me out, let me break down my understanding, then rebuild all my faulty assumptions. His time was relatively cheap but his knowledge base relatively valuable, so with him I did deep dives.
The smart hacker guy I watched from a distance. Any time I saw him merge some ludicrous Rube Goldberg type commit I’d send him a quick DM, knowing his time was precious. I’d fire off a few quick questions and try to glean as much insight into his critical work before he scurried off to the next apparently invaluable task.
I think approaching the problem this way, leveraging the “implicit theories” embedded in the teammates heads, is the surest and most efficient way to ramp up, besides the obvious advice like RTFM and gloss over the relevant textbooks. Always remember to make yourself useful first. No accomplished engineer will ever turn down a well intentioned and friendly favor! “Team work makes the dream work,” as they say.
Good luck!