What is technical debt and in what situations a beauty master takes it on. How to avoid technical debt and how to pay it off — we’re breaking it down today in a new Beauty Hunter article.
The idea behind the metaphor “technical debt of a beauty master” is very simple. We learn as fast as possible and, at the same time, skip basic knowledge, the foundation of which allows us to easily adapt in different situations when working with a client.
So. Let’s imagine “Irishka” — a hypothetical student aspiring to become a makeup artist.
At some point, Irishka decided to become a beauty master and started choosing training. Irishka has two options: a 10-lesson course and a 30-lesson course for the same money. Is it worth saying that most likely the longer course included important subjects and more practice? Of course, the 30-lesson course is a serious thing and requires time. But that doesn’t matter anymore — the main thing is that the new student chose the short course.
That’s the moment Irishka basically sold her soul to the devil by taking on her technical beauty debt.
The concept of this term was created by Ward Cunningham (an American programmer), and its essence is borrowed from finance.
You as a subject — a BEAUTY master — must complete training and gain knowledge in order to be one.
And technical debt is the resources and knowledge required to bring you to a level corresponding to a professional in your industry, but not sufficient for working with non-standard tasks.
Let’s explain using Irishka as an example. Irishka completed a short course and is technically a beauty master and can work, but she lacks the knowledge and skills for proper work in non-standard situations or with non-standard clients.
Like financial debt, technical debt makes us pay interest in the form of additional costs that we will inevitably have to bear later because we chose faster training now.
So, in order to learn how to handle any tasks, Irishka will need additional education, investing time, effort, and money.
Technical debt can be different depending on motivation and awareness when choosing training. The following types are distinguished:
Conscious — when a beauty master understands that longer training is better but still chooses a short one because they want to start working faster.
Unconscious — lack of understanding of the learning process and the need for practice and theory.
Confrontational — unwillingness to accept new trends and the need to improve qualifications.
Of course, situations vary and sometimes we are forced to sacrifice quality for speed. In this case, you must be sure you are choosing this path consciously and that after finishing training you will look for ways to fix it. Or maybe you simply don’t have time because you live abroad.
Or when you are not sure this is truly what you want, or currently don’t have the ability to buy enough cosmetics for a full start of work.
Let’s summarize. Technical debt can be our ally if we need to save time, however, we should be careful because speed often comes at the cost of quality.
Technical debt reduces productivity and interest, so try to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
Don’t confuse technical debt with ordinary mess and inconsistency in education and work.
Remember that paying off a debt is always harder than taking it on, and relearning what you’ve already learned is even harder.
Learn properly, and most importantly — on time!
Love to all, your Beauty Hunter