Compassionate Coding: Emotional Intelligence for Engineers

Introduction

Compassionate Coding is a new approach to software development that prioritizes the humans involved in and affected by technology.

1. Background

Founding Story

After a decade of job-hopping around software engineering and technical leadership roles, April Wensel found herself burnout and looking for answers. Her personal growth journey led her to read books on compassion that resonated powerfully. In an effort to help other developers and the improve the industry as a whole, she founded Compassionate Coding in 2016 to bring more compassion, mindfulness, and social responsibility to software development.

Mission and Vision

The mission of Compassionate Coding is to bring more humanity into the software development process by connecting directly with developers through emotional intelligence training programs for teams and individuals.

2. The Compassionate Coding Philosophy

Self

Self-compassion means not beating ourselves up when we struggle. We can still pursue excellence while being compassionate with ourselves.

Collaborators

Compassion for our collaborators means empathizing with people who have different viewpoints. It also requires giving feedback in constructive ways.

Users

Compassion for users means creating good UX; it also means considering how technology affects users’ mental health and overall well-being.

Society

In the widest sense, Compassionate Coding is about considering the how technology affects society and our planet.

3. Compassionate Coding the Company

Learning Resources

Compassionate Coding offers free blog posts and videos.

Community Building

The Compassionate Coding community stays connected through the newsletter.

Events and Workshops

April frequently speaks at events and on podcasts, and she offers customized training programs for companies. Common topics include emotional intelligence for engineers, communicating with assertive compassion, remote collaboration, and giving and receiving feedback.

4. Testimonials and Success Stories

Past Clients

Compassionate Coding provides training at software companies all over the globe, including some well-known social media, gaming, and search companies.

Participant Feedback

“I thought it was brilliant: pedagogically sound through its short exercises with different groups, very clear focus on takeaways, steering clear of being overwhelming, and a lot of fun to do. Keep up the good work!”

“I found this to be one of the most useful trainings on interpersonal relationships I have ever experienced.”

“Tangible ideas and evidence about EQ! Really liked how logical it was—very helpful.”

5. How You Can Get Involved

Sign up for the newsletter

There’s a free Compassionate Coding newsletter.

Bring in a training for your team

Find out more about our team training options.