Learning

We support each other when stuck and learn from our mistakes.

What is a learning culture in development teams?

A learning culture in development teams refers to an environment where team members actively support each other when facing challenges and consciously learn from both successes and mistakes. It encompasses structured knowledge sharing, psychological safety to admit errors, time for reflection, and mechanisms to implement lessons learned.

As one leader observed:

"I've managed developer teams of up to 100 people at one point. One of the key things we always evaluated was psychological safety - how comfortable team members felt speaking up in their environment. How willing were they to raise their hand and admit mistakes? These cultural elements are fundamental to learning and developer experience."

Head of Client Solutions at Software Development Company

Learning cultures include both formal programs and informal support networks that create a foundation for continuous improvement and innovation. This dual approach ensures that knowledge is both retained and evolved as the team grows.

Why is learning culture crucial for developer experience and productivity?

Accelerating onboarding and skills development

A strong learning culture significantly reduces the time needed for new team members to become productive contributors. When teams support each other when stuck, onboarding becomes more efficient and less stressful.

For experienced team members, continuous learning keeps skills relevant in the rapidly evolving tech landscape, preventing knowledge stagnation and maintaining engagement.

Reducing costly repeated mistakes

When teams effectively learn from mistakes, they avoid the costly pattern of repeating the same errors across projects or sprints.

"They may recognize lessons learned, but they fail to apply this knowledge in practice. You can see this when they repeatedly make the same mistakes because of competing priorities and pressures."

Agile Manifesto Co-Author at Software Development Company

Organizations without mechanisms to capture and apply lessons learned often see the same issues resurface, creating frustration and wasting resources that could be directed toward innovation.

Improving resilience and adaptability

Teams with strong learning cultures adapt more quickly to changes in requirements, technology, or market conditions. The practice of reflection and continuous improvement creates mental models for handling uncertainty.

"By reflecting on your experiences, you learn and develop as a professional. I've personally grown through this process - I've become more capable and versatile, able to handle tasks I couldn't before. I believe this approach works, though there's always some uncertainty."

Agile Manifesto Co-Author at Software Development Company

This adaptability is increasingly critical in modern software development, where change is constant and unpredictable.

Fostering innovation through learning and experimentation

Learning cultures create safe spaces for experimentation, where trying new approaches is encouraged even when outcomes are uncertain. One engineering manager described how they structured this:

"We have a dedicated time block every Friday for knowledge gathering where we explore new technologies or tools we're less familiar with. This investment pays off later - when someone has a question about that technology on a Tuesday, they don't need to spend 45 minutes getting up to speed because we've already done that work. They can recall what they learned and immediately know how to proceed."

Senior Manager at Software Development Company

These dedicated times for exploration often yield unexpected solutions to existing problems and spark innovation for future development.

How can you measure learning culture in development teams?

DevEx survey

The Network Perspective DevEx Survey provides a direct measure through the statement: "We support each other when stuck and learn from our mistakes." This elegantly captures both aspects of a healthy learning culture: immediate support and long-term improvement.

When teams score low on this metric, it signals potential issues with either knowledge sharing mechanisms, psychological safety, or both. Drill-down discussions should determine which dimension needs attention.

System log metrics

While the survey question provides valuable insight, complementary metrics can provide a more complete picture:

1. Time to resolve blockers: Decreasing average time to resolve technical blockers indicates improving support systems
2. Post-incident learning effectiveness: Tracking whether similar incidents repeat after being analyzed
3. Knowledge base utilization: Measuring both contributions to and usage of documentation and learning resources
4. Cross-training breadth: Monitoring the distribution of expertise across the team

Combined with qualitative feedback from retrospectives, these metrics provide a comprehensive view of learning culture health.

What common obstacles prevent effective learning in tech teams?

Delivery pressure crowding out reflection time

One of the most common barriers to learning is continuous delivery pressure that eliminates time for reflection and improvement.

When teams operate in perpetual "firefighting mode," they may support each other in the moment but fail to implement systemic improvements that would prevent future fires.

Knowledge silos and expertise hoarding

In some organizations, knowledge becomes a form of job security rather than a shared resource. This creates expertise bottlenecks where progress depends on specific individuals, increasing vulnerability and reducing overall team capacity.

Technology choices can exacerbate this problem when they require specialized knowledge that few team members possess, creating implicit dependencies.

Blame culture undermining psychological safety

Learning from mistakes becomes impossible when admitting errors leads to blame rather than improvement. As observed in the interviews, psychological safety is fundamental to a learning culture:

"One of the things that we always looked at was like, how safe the teams feel. So, like, how happy are they to raise something in an environment? And how happy are they to talk about, put their hand up and say they've got something wrong with."

Head of Client Solutions at Software Development Company

Organizations must consciously cultivate environments where mistakes are treated as learning opportunities rather than failures.

Implementation gap between insight and action

Even when teams identify valuable lessons, they often struggle to translate insights into lasting changes to processes or practices. This "knowing-doing gap" prevents real learning from taking place:

"The team might learn but doesn’t put the learning into action. It’s a bit like repeating mistakes because of other pressures."

Agile Manifesto Co-Author at Software Development Company

Effective learning cultures need mechanisms not just for identifying lessons but for implementing and reinforcing changes.

How can organizations build and strengthen learning cultures?

Create structured knowledge-sharing rituals

Regular, dedicated forums for knowledge exchange prevent learning from being crowded out by day-to-day demands. Successful examples from our interviews include:

"When I joined, I established a peer learning program called API University. Every couple of weeks, we gather during a dedicated time slot for knowledge sharing, where someone presents an in-depth exploration of a topic relevant to our engineering community or other interested parties."

Engineering Manager at Software Development Company

These can range from formal "universities" to lightweight brown-bag sessions, but the key is consistency and protected time.

Foster psychological safety through leadership modeling

Leaders set the tone for how mistakes are handled by modeling vulnerability and learning orientation. When managers openly discuss their own errors and what they learned, it gives permission for others to do the same.

Leadership behavior has an outsized influence on whether team members feel safe to admit knowledge gaps or mistakes.

Implement effective retrospectives and post-mortems

Regular, blameless retrospectives supported with anonymised DevEx Surveys results provide a structured opportunity to align team around key pains, extract learning from both successes and failures. As one engineering leader shared:

"This type of feedback is valuable - it provides additional data for our retrospectives. After receiving survey results, teams gather to discuss the findings together. It's a straightforward process that yields helpful insights."

Head of Engineering at Software Development Company

To avoid retrospectives becoming performative exercises, teams should focus on concrete action items with clear ownership and follow-up mechanisms.

Design for knowledge transfer in team structures

Some organizations intentionally structure teams to maximize knowledge flow:

"Instead of permanent teams, we work with temporary project teams. Whenever possible, we deliberately mix people at the portfolio planning level. This creates a natural learning network where team members gain diverse knowledge from each other and provide mutual inspiration."

CEO at Software Development Company

While fully ephemeral teams aren't suitable for all organizations, intentional cross-team collaboration and rotation opportunities can create similar knowledge-sharing benefits.

Invest in mentorship and coaching relationships

Formalized mentorship accelerates learning beyond what documentation or self-study can provide. One interviewee highlighted the distinction from traditional training:

"That's a concept I really appreciate. I prefer mentoring over training because it involves genuine engagement. I compare it to an American football quarterback who's in the game getting hit alongside the team, not just coaching from the sidelines. Mentoring is truly an exceptional approach to development."

Developer Productivity & Platform at Software Development Company

Effective mentorship requires both structure (regular meetings, clear goals) and chemistry between participants, making thoughtful matching essential.

How does learning culture compare across different development contexts?

Startups vs. enterprise organizations

Startups often have informal, organic learning through close collaboration, while enterprise organizations typically need more structured knowledge management systems to operate at scale.

However, both contexts face unique challenges: - Startups risk losing critical knowledge during rapid growth if they don't develop documentation habits - Enterprises struggle with knowledge silos between teams and bureaucratic barriers to implementing lessons learned

Co-located vs. distributed teams

Distributed teams must be more intentional about creating learning opportunities that happen naturally in co-located environments. Remote and hybrid teams benefit from: 1. Recorded knowledge-sharing sessions for asynchronous consumption 2. Digital collaboration tools that make thinking visible 3. Intentional virtual social spaces for informal learning

What tools and practices best support learning in development teams?

Network Perspective DevEx AI - Surveys & Actions

Regular measurement using Network Perspective DevEx Surveys provides a foundation for understanding learning culture health. The DevEx survey statement "We support each other when stuck and learn from our mistakes" elegantly captures two dimensions of learning culture that must work together: immediate support: The in-the-moment help that unblocks teammates and maintains momentum, and systemic learning: The longer-term process of improving practices based on accumulated experience

Beyond measurement, DevEx AI analyzes open-text comments and automatically generates suggested actions, turning raw developers' feedback into practical next steps. Actions put into a Kanban board closes the loop through a measure–act–learn cycle, helping teams not only identify gaps but also experiment with concrete improvements.

By feeding these AI-driven insights into retrospectives and operational excellence sessions, teams move beyond surface-level reflection. Retros become faster, sharper, and more focused on changes that actually improve delivery process, code quality, testing, specification, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and overall developer experience.

Knowledge management and documentation systems

Effective learning requires mechanisms to capture and share knowledge beyond individual memories. Modern documentation approaches favor:

1. Just-in-time documentation over comprehensive manuals
2. Living documents that evolve with the codebase
3. Search-optimized formats for easy retrieval when needed
4. Clear ownership and update mechanisms

The key is balancing comprehensiveness with maintenance burden to ensure documentation remains current and useful.

Pair programming and collaborative coding

Direct collaboration while coding creates powerful learning opportunities through real-time knowledge transfer. This approach combines immediate problem-solving with long-term capability building, directly addressing both aspects of the learning culture question.

Internal tech talks and communities of practice

Structured knowledge sharing through internal presentations and interest groups helps spread expertise across organizational boundaries. As one interviewee described:

"We made significant initial investments in training and established a group of enthusiastic evangelists who were eager to adopt the technology. They rapidly developed expertise and, using a train-the-trainer approach, helped spread these skills throughout the entire organization."

AI & Data Director at Technology Company

These forums work best when they focus on practical knowledge directly applicable to current work rather than theoretical concepts.

What role do managers and leaders play in fostering learning cultures?

Creating psychological safety through example

Leaders set the tone for how mistakes are handled through their own reactions and vulnerability. When managers openly discuss their own learning journey and mistakes, it creates permission for team members to do the same.

This includes: 1. Admitting knowledge gaps rather than faking expertise 2. Discussing failures as learning opportunities rather than performance issues 3. Asking questions that demonstrate curiosity rather than judgment

Protecting time for learning and reflection

In environments with constant delivery pressure, managers must actively defend time for learning activities. This might include:

1. Dedicated learning time like the Friday knowledge-gathering block mentioned earlier
2. Realistic sprint planning that accounts for improvement activities
3. Regular retrospectives with meaningful follow-through

As one interviewee noted, this often requires leaders to "put their foot down" against competing priorities.

Connecting individual learning to career growth

When learning is explicitly valued in performance reviews and promotion decisions, it reinforces its importance to the organization. Managers should:

1. Recognize and celebrate knowledge sharing contributions
2. Include learning goals in development plans
3. Create opportunities for team members to apply new skills

This alignment ensures that supporting learning isn't just a cultural aspiration but a strategic priority with tangible benefits for both individuals and the organization.

How can developers contribute to learning culture regardless of their role?

Developing personal learning habits

Individual developers can strengthen team learning culture by modeling effective personal learning practices:

1. Maintaining curiosity and a growth mindset
2. Documenting solutions to problems they solve
3. Regularly reflecting on both successes and failures
4. Seeking feedback proactively rather than defensively

These habits create ripple effects that influence team norms over time.

Offering and seeking help effectively

The survey question specifically mentions "supporting each other when stuck," which involves both offering and receiving help skillfully:

When offering help: - Focus on empowerment rather than taking over - Explain reasoning behind solutions - Follow up to ensure understanding

When seeking help: - Demonstrate effort to solve the problem first - Ask specific questions rather than general ones - Express gratitude and document solutions for future reference

These practices transform help-seeking from a transaction into a learning opportunity for all involved.

Contributing to team knowledge bases

Individual developers can strengthen collective knowledge by: 1. Updating documentation when they discover outdated information 2. Adding context and examples to technical explanations 3. Sharing useful resources discovered during problem-solving 4. Cross-linking related information for discoverability

Small, consistent contributions compound over time to create valuable team resources.

Conclusion

Organizations excel when they balance both dimensions, creating environments where developers can get help when needed while also evolving their practices to prevent recurring problems.