Shu Ha Ri ... path to mastery

“The Frustrated Junior Dev” “I’m doing everything ‘right’… so why does it still feel wrong?” A junior dev once asked me that after a standup where their ticket got picked apart. They followed the pattern. Wrote the unit tests. Named variables cleanly. But somehow, they still missed the mark. The architect refactored their logic. The PO changed the acceptance criteria. The team lead rewrote their comments. They weren’t slacking. They weren’t careless. They were doing everything by the book and still, it wasn’t clicking. If you’ve ever been there doing all the “right” things yet still feeling off-balance, welcome to Shu, the first stage of mastery. We’ve all been there: copying patterns we don’t fully understand, and sticking to the rules even when they chafe a little. That’s not failure. That’s where real growth begins! Let's explore Shu Ha Ri, the Japanese path to mastery in Agile and beyond. Learn how discipline, adaptation, and transcendence shape true growth.

May 6, 2025 - 03:16

“The Frustrated Junior Dev”

“I’m doing everything ‘right’… so why does it still feel wrong?”
A junior dev once asked me that after a standup where their ticket got picked apart. They followed the pattern. Wrote the unit tests. Named variables cleanly. But somehow, they still missed the mark.

The architect refactored their logic.
The PO changed the acceptance criteria.
The team lead rewrote their comments.

They weren’t slacking. They weren’t careless. They were doing everything by the book and still, it wasn’t clicking.

If you’ve ever been there doing all the “right” things yet still feeling off-balance, welcome to Shu, the first stage of mastery.

We’ve all been there: copying patterns we don’t fully understand, and sticking to the rules even when they chafe a little. That’s not failure.
That’s where real growth begins!
Let's explore Shu Ha Ri, the Japanese path to mastery in Agile and beyond. Learn how discipline, adaptation, and transcendence shape true growth.