Software Lead Weekly
Issue #132, 5th June 2015
This Week's Favorite
Organizational Debt Is Like Technical Debt – But Worse
6 minutes read.
"Organizational debt is all the people/culture compromises made to “just get it done” in the early stages of a startup." -- Steve Blank will make you think of those "little things" you left behind that might slow you down when trying to scale the company, such as who to hire, how to create an onboarding plan, how to protect your unique DNA (aka values) as your culture changes and the company grows etc. Even if you're short on time, you have to check the questions Steve raises at the last section "“Refactoring” organizational debt".
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6 minutes read.
"Organizational debt is all the people/culture compromises made to “just get it done” in the early stages of a startup." -- Steve Blank will make you think of those "little things" you left behind that might slow you down when trying to scale the company, such as who to hire, how to create an onboarding plan, how to protect your unique DNA (aka values) as your culture changes and the company grows etc. Even if you're short on time, you have to check the questions Steve raises at the last section "“Refactoring” organizational debt".
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
The Problem With Waterfall UX
1 minutes read.
As always, my humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.
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1 minutes read.
As always, my humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
How Six People Built the Number Two Most Popular Mobile Analytics Tool in Just a Few Months
7 minutes read.
Great look into behind the scenes of Crashlytics, a startup that was acquired by Twitter back in 2013. Wayne Chang (co-founder) shares some great stories from their crazy ride. Highly recommended!
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
7 minutes read.
Great look into behind the scenes of Crashlytics, a startup that was acquired by Twitter back in 2013. Wayne Chang (co-founder) shares some great stories from their crazy ride. Highly recommended!
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Iterating on Iterations – The Year-Long Evolution of the Way We Work at Next Big Sound
12 minutes read.
"At Next Big Sound, we are committed to iterating not only on our products but also on the way that we work." -- Really pragmatic and helpful take by Dave Zwieback on how they iterated on their process. Long read, but one of those rare posts where you truly get to learn from other companies on how to shift and adjust the way you can execute as a company.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
12 minutes read.
"At Next Big Sound, we are committed to iterating not only on our products but also on the way that we work." -- Really pragmatic and helpful take by Dave Zwieback on how they iterated on their process. Long read, but one of those rare posts where you truly get to learn from other companies on how to shift and adjust the way you can execute as a company.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Your Org Is a Product
4 minutes read.
Having the patience to see an organization going through a change, just like we do when planning a product is a great analogy by Cap Watkins (VP Design at BuzzFeed): "It’s important to understand that your goals internally, like your product goals, are lighthouses in the distance. They are things to work toward, not things that happen today, tomorrow, next week or just because we say them out loud."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
Having the patience to see an organization going through a change, just like we do when planning a product is a great analogy by Cap Watkins (VP Design at BuzzFeed): "It’s important to understand that your goals internally, like your product goals, are lighthouses in the distance. They are things to work toward, not things that happen today, tomorrow, next week or just because we say them out loud."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Meet Margaret Hamilton, the Badass '60s Programmer Who Saved the Moon Landing
5 minutes read.
What an inspiring story about Margaret Hamilton! Loved this one: "Being a baller, she anticipated this kind of problem and made the Apollo operating system robust against it... when the overloads came up, this feature allowed the computer to drop low-priority tasks" -- This post reminded me that building robust systems, as a software engineer in the cloud era, becomes more and more imperative as a skill to master. These stories, in such high-risk systems, always set the right perspective we all need from time to time.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
What an inspiring story about Margaret Hamilton! Loved this one: "Being a baller, she anticipated this kind of problem and made the Apollo operating system robust against it... when the overloads came up, this feature allowed the computer to drop low-priority tasks" -- This post reminded me that building robust systems, as a software engineer in the cloud era, becomes more and more imperative as a skill to master. These stories, in such high-risk systems, always set the right perspective we all need from time to time.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
On Leadership. Fatherhood. And Managing Different Personalities
6 minutes read.
As a relatively new father to my baby boy Ethan, this post by Mark really stroke a chord with me. The ability to influence others without using your authority is a real struggle for most of us. I know it is for me. Authenticity can take you a long way, I believe, so don't be afraid to show your weaknesses and ask for help. Use your strengths and honest desire to help others to guide your path. Lastly, I'm a big believer in setting very explicit expectations with others, while trying to explain my thought process. It's not a bullet proof solution, but it's an important step forward in building trust and being transparent.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
As a relatively new father to my baby boy Ethan, this post by Mark really stroke a chord with me. The ability to influence others without using your authority is a real struggle for most of us. I know it is for me. Authenticity can take you a long way, I believe, so don't be afraid to show your weaknesses and ask for help. Use your strengths and honest desire to help others to guide your path. Lastly, I'm a big believer in setting very explicit expectations with others, while trying to explain my thought process. It's not a bullet proof solution, but it's an important step forward in building trust and being transparent.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Zugzwang and the Art of Admitting Mistakes
3 minutes read.
This one is a great advice by Rich Armstrong, on how to avoid making a commitment to soon in the conversation with a customer. Short and important to remember, even when working internally with other engineers who'd see a buggy behavior in the code as the least of both evils.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
This one is a great advice by Rich Armstrong, on how to avoid making a commitment to soon in the conversation with a customer. Short and important to remember, even when working internally with other engineers who'd see a buggy behavior in the code as the least of both evils.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@skamille: Constantly reminded that brilliant people become indispensable not by their brilliance but by their ability to work with others
@holman: There’s no reason you can’t treat employee feedback and performance as continuous integration for the overall health of your company.
- 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.