Embracing Curiosity - Holiday Coding Sessions

Holiday Coding started as a simple idea: dedicating relaxed time each week to explore, learn, and reflect together. What began as a small experiment has quickly become a cherished weekly ritual, bringing together individuals from different companies to share their unique perspectives and experiences.

The Sessions are based on my believe in Holiday Coding: a playful and informal way of learning by improving real production systems through experimentation during relaxed, stress-free “off time.” It’s about applying practical effort to real-world, messy production environments, fostering deeper understanding and professional growth beyond theoretical knowledge or formal training. It emphasises creativity, experimentation, and reflection within authentic, complex contexts—blending professional advancement with genuine enjoyment.

How Holiday Coding Sessions Work

Each Holiday Coding Session is a compact but meaningful two-hour experience, blending inspiration and practical exploration:

• 30-minute “Brain Dump”: Rather than a polished academic presentation, I kick things off with an informal, energised “brain dump” on a particular topic intended to spark curiosity and ideas within the group. I share my brain dump in a loose collection of slides for people to refer back to later.
• 60-minute Individual Exploration: The heart of the session involves everyone diving into individual explorations using their own production code bases and real-world systems. This isn’t theory; it’s hands-on exploring amid the messy complexity of actual production environments.
• 30-minute Group Reflection: We close by reconvening to share what each person discovered, discuss insights, and reflect on the practical challenges encountered during exploration.

Examples from Past Sessions

We’ve tackled fascinating topics and experienced powerful moments of learning:

• Files and Folder Structures: Our first session looked deeply into the impact of organising real production code.
• Coding with AI: Over several sessions, we experimented with integrating AI into everyday coding tasks in actual production environments. These explorations uncovered practical, actionable ways to leverage AI effectively.
• Pace Layering & “Don’t Wake Me Up at Night”: Inspired by Pace Layering, we discussed structuring production systems according to change frequency, balancing stability and flexibility. The practical “Don’t Wake Me Up at Night” approach helped define critical operational boundaries.

Why It Matters

Holiday Coding Sessions create space in a fast-paced team setting, allowing people to learn and grow through real-world exploration and practical problem-solving. They encourage authentic curiosity, revealing innovation often hidden within the complexity of actual production challenges.

If you’re intrigued by the idea, I’d love to hear what sparks your curiosity—or better yet, consider joining or starting your own Holiday Coding Sessions!

We might open up with 1 or 2 extra spots in our Thursday afternoon Holiday Coding group.