Software Lead Weekly
Issue #120, 13th March 2015
This Week's Favorite
The Idea Person
5 minutes read.
What an inspiring post by Julie Zhuo. Enjoyed every word, every line, every idea. Let's celebrate and honor the Follow-Through Person. "Ideas are like candy—colorful, fun easy to indulge in. The hard part—the part that really matters—is the follow-through. Why don’t we glorify that instead?"
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
What an inspiring post by Julie Zhuo. Enjoyed every word, every line, every idea. Let's celebrate and honor the Follow-Through Person. "Ideas are like candy—colorful, fun easy to indulge in. The hard part—the part that really matters—is the follow-through. Why don’t we glorify that instead?"
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
Being an Introvert in a Party
1 minutes read.
As always, something to start the weekend with a huge smile on your face.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
1 minutes read.
As always, something to start the weekend with a huge smile on your face.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
The Secret of Fast Programming: Stop Thinking
5 minutes read.
Interesting post and relevant to all kowledege workers not only programmers. Max Kanat-Alexander will challenge you to look at the act of "stopping to think" as a warning sign. To the extreme, this is the danger with analysis-paralysis, being so busy trying to find blind spots and edge-cases that might lead you to avoid doing the actual work. So it's not the danger of thinking, it's the danger of avoid materializing the thinking process into an actionable plan. Ask the questions, break up things to small pieces, prove the value (by writing tests, releasing small chunks to production, talk with users etc.) and get things done.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Interesting post and relevant to all kowledege workers not only programmers. Max Kanat-Alexander will challenge you to look at the act of "stopping to think" as a warning sign. To the extreme, this is the danger with analysis-paralysis, being so busy trying to find blind spots and edge-cases that might lead you to avoid doing the actual work. So it's not the danger of thinking, it's the danger of avoid materializing the thinking process into an actionable plan. Ask the questions, break up things to small pieces, prove the value (by writing tests, releasing small chunks to production, talk with users etc.) and get things done.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
World's Greatest Workplace
19 minutes read.
Got a good recommendation about this video from one of my teammates, and it's golden. Not because of the specific practices they apply, as this is always a matter of taste, but for their attitude and optimism. How would you approach making your employees happy? Motivated? Aligned with the company's mission? How do you build relationships between the different people in the team? How do you get them to care about each other and the company? I think I'm going to steal the "SPLASH" concept though. Should be fun to see how people will react to it.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
19 minutes read.
Got a good recommendation about this video from one of my teammates, and it's golden. Not because of the specific practices they apply, as this is always a matter of taste, but for their attitude and optimism. How would you approach making your employees happy? Motivated? Aligned with the company's mission? How do you build relationships between the different people in the team? How do you get them to care about each other and the company? I think I'm going to steal the "SPLASH" concept though. Should be fun to see how people will react to it.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Ruthlessness and Grit in Startups
3 minutes read.
I'm now working at my 4th startup (1 as a co-founder and 3 as an employee) and there is no better way to describe the startup life (and the emotional rollercoaster) than this post. Keep pushing yourself.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
I'm now working at my 4th startup (1 as a co-founder and 3 as an employee) and there is no better way to describe the startup life (and the emotional rollercoaster) than this post. Keep pushing yourself.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Fired
5 minutes read.
Zach Holman, someone who I've been following his work and great talks, shares his personal story about getting fired from GitHub. It doesn't mean there are bad guys in these stories, sometimes after a few years things need to change. Funny and sincere as always.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Zach Holman, someone who I've been following his work and great talks, shares his personal story about getting fired from GitHub. It doesn't mean there are bad guys in these stories, sometimes after a few years things need to change. Funny and sincere as always.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Making Feedback Happen
6 minutes read.
About a month ago, two of my teammates wanted to do some peer review and offered me to join and listen (only as an observer). It was a great experience to see how honest and constructive it was. They truly care about each other, and you could see it in their language and tone. Nate Kettles offers a framework you can use to improve and learn from your peers. "By having a feedback session like the one described you’re able to eliminate agendas and receive unbiased appreciation from someone in a semi-formal environment."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
About a month ago, two of my teammates wanted to do some peer review and offered me to join and listen (only as an observer). It was a great experience to see how honest and constructive it was. They truly care about each other, and you could see it in their language and tone. Nate Kettles offers a framework you can use to improve and learn from your peers. "By having a feedback session like the one described you’re able to eliminate agendas and receive unbiased appreciation from someone in a semi-formal environment."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
How to Manage
49 minutes read.
The 15th lecture from YC's "How to Start a Startup" class. Grab a hot coffee (or cold beer) this weekend and watch it. I always learn something new when it comes to Ben Horowitz. If you haven't read his book, don't miss this one. A lot of goodies worth sharing at the office as well.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
49 minutes read.
The 15th lecture from YC's "How to Start a Startup" class. Grab a hot coffee (or cold beer) this weekend and watch it. I always learn something new when it comes to Ben Horowitz. If you haven't read his book, don't miss this one. A lot of goodies worth sharing at the office as well.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@ValaAfshar: We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we trust, respect and care for each other.
@RuiAAPeres: GDD: Gif Driven Development. In order to prove the feature is implemented, you post a gif showing it.
- Oren
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.