Software Lead Weekly

Selecting Project Leads
5 minutes read.

Will Larson covers a point that I've seen happening (and I'm guilty of it as well) -- "Have you ever worked at a company where the same two people always got the most important projects?" -- follow Will's process to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen in your company. It is absolutely necessary if you want to get everyone to level up. ‏

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Silicon Valley Is the Best TV Show Ever Made. Evidence:
1 minutes read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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Engineering Ladders at Meetup
8 minutes read.

Another strong Engineering Ladders, this time from the team at Meetup. As we're working on our own format (and I know many of you are thinking about it), this is a high-quality reference to use. ‏

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Alright All You Kids With "Only a Few Years Experience" Who "Aren't Sure if You Know Enough to Give a Talk", Listen Up (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Charity Majors preach a message that I hope more people will get and support their teammates in doing that. It doesn't have to be huge. It can be things you've picked up, learned and want to share. It will open you up to growth opportunities far beyond what you believe possible. ‏

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Transitioning From Programming to Management
3 minutes read.

João Moura shares the 4 biggest struggles one deals with when making the transition, and above all the lack of quick feedback is radically hard. “One tool I used to deal with it was having quick review notes, I wrote down the decisions I took and weeks later I'd review that, asking myself if I would take the same decision once again.” - This is something that I’ve done as well, and wrote about in a blog post and on my book. Creating a way to collect feedback on your decisions as a manager is critical to the feeling of making good progress.

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Books I've Recently Read and Recommend (By Marc Andreessen)
4 minutes read.

If you're big into books, this thread is as good as it gets. Marc Andreessen (from a16z) shares the book he enjoyed reading, and many of them are (to me) intriguing enough that I added 7 books to my reading queue. ‏

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How to Take Control of Your Own Leadership
5 minutes read.

“It’s frustrating to be stuck in that rut of wanting to take on more, of stepping up, but not knowing how. It sucks to do great work, but feel like you’re not being given opportunities.” — if this statement sounds like a reality to you (or a peer of yours), Jean Hsu has some great tips on getting you out of this mode. Try it, be proactive and step out a little of your day to day habits.

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@Suhail: There's no upside in hating on someone's idea. You come off as non-believer or ruin their confidence. Instead, just ask the questions that make you hesitate & let them come to their own conclusion. If you're right, you helped them think it through. If you're wrong, you'll learn.

@johnsundell: Every time a company proudly Announces that they “Rewrote X from the ground up!” all I can hear is “We replaced all the bugs we knew about with ones we don’t know about!”. Refactoring, reworking and properly maintaining a code base is almost always the better option 🙂