This pattern is about shedding light to dark or unknow spaces of a craftsman knowledge. The context and problem given are that the people who are paying you to be a software developer are depending on you to know what you’re doing, and your managers and team members need confidence that you can deliver, but you are unfamiliar with some of the required technologies. The solution suggested is to show the people who are depending on you that the learning process is part of delivering software and to let them see you grow. The book also mentions how hard it is to practice it because it is scientifically proven that the need to appear competent is ingrained in most people. That being said, there is no need to hide an area of ignorance because one of the most important traits that a craftsman can possess is the ability to learn, identifying an area of ignorance and working to reduce it.
I can absolutely relate to the context given in this pattern because it’s quite frankly where I am currently at. As I am navigating working my first “real” jobs, I quickly realized that I do have many zones of ignorance and it is extremely difficult to just lay them out because there is a lot of pressure to deliver what I have been hired for. Reading this has definitely reassured me in knowing that most people feel the same. The pattern suggests asking questions as a way to expose one’s ignorance and I have really found that to be true. Often, I would just go straight to google, stackOverflow or any similar website when I was presented with unfamiliar material or when I didn’t know how to approach a task and I would ask question after I ran out of ways. I have then realized that it should be the other way around because hearing from the employer/client and asking the right questions first made my tasks easier to achieve. I found interesting the emphasis they added on expertise not being the destination but being a by-product of the long road we’re all on. It just means that with time and some practice you get the extra knowledge that make one an expert at something.
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