This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines in Kraków, and let me tell you—I was absolutely floored (no pun intended). The sheer ingenuity of humans to carve deep into the earth and create a labyrinth of tunnels is nothing short of breathtaking.

With a total of 300 kilometers of galleries and reaching depths of 327 meters, you can’t help but marvel at the monumental effort that went into this over centuries. And as I wandered through this subterranean wonder, one thought kept running through my mind: how critical it is to lay strong foundations. Without them, such feats of engineering would simply collapse under their own weight (and that’s one kind of failure no salt can fix).

From Mines to Mindsets: A Developer’s Perspective

Fast forward to Monday morning, and here I am, back at my desk a modest +10 meters above sea level, reflecting on the parallels between these salt mines and our work as developers. Just as those miners laid solid groundwork to extract something valuable, we need to establish robust foundations—not just in code but across all the skills we use—to create innovative solutions.

Solutions, I hope, that will stand the test of time (or at least make it through a few code reviews).

My Strategy for Turning Problems into Products

Inspired by this, I took a step back to reassess my approach to tackling problems and turning them into useful products. Here’s a sketch of my process:

(Diagram created with Whimsical. Shoutout to Shubham SHARMA for introducing me to this fantastic tool! 😄)

Currently, I see myself in a 3-6 month iterative phase where I aim to roll out a viable MVP. That said, I’m convinced these timelines can be shortened by mastering the essential building blocks of the process. Practice may not make perfect, but it does make progress!

Let’s Collaborate

I’d love to hear your take on this. What approach would you use to develop your ideas into a tangible product? Are there aspects of my strategy you think need a tweak? Or maybe you have tips for sharpening the skills needed to accelerate this process?

Let’s exchange thoughts in the comments or on social media—I’m always open to fresh perspectives and constructive feedback.

Thanks for reading, and as always, see you soon! 😊