What you're trying to do is foster an environment where it's easier to find and reuse existing stuff than to write it yourself. If it isn't easy, people won't do it.

Over the years, you'll be amazed at how your experience has blossomed and your skills have grown.

The phrase "good enough" does not imply sloppy or poorly produced code.

But ask permission to tackle the whole thing and you'll be met with delays and blank stares.

Read a technical book each quarter. Bookstores are full of technical books on interesting topics related to your current project. Once you're in the habit, read a book a month. After you've mastered the technologies you're currently using, branch out and study some that don't relate to your project.

Encourage people to talk by asking questions, or have them summarize what you tell them.

if you use the principle of orthogonality, combined closely with the DRY principle, you'll find that the systems you develop are more flexible, more understandable, and easier to debug, test, and maintain.

[Ber96] Albert J. Bernstein. Dinosaur Brains: Dealing with All Those Impossible People at Work. Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1996.

Tip 4 Don't Live with Broken Windows