Software Lead Weekly
Issue #362, 1st November 2019
This Week's Favorite
Make Great Decisions Quickly With TOMASP
7 minutes read.
Djoume Salvetti offers a decision framework that is a must-read for every technical lead and manager. The beauty of a clear decision framework is that it reduces the need to pay a large emotional tax to justify each decision. Read it and share within your organization, it would level up the discussions on your next 1:1s.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
7 minutes read.
Djoume Salvetti offers a decision framework that is a must-read for every technical lead and manager. The beauty of a clear decision framework is that it reduces the need to pay a large emotional tax to justify each decision. Read it and share within your organization, it would level up the discussions on your next 1:1s.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
How to Hide Your Bitcoins
1 minutes read.
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.
1 minutes read.
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.
Moving Past Shallow Incident Data
6 minutes read.
John Allspaw will shift your attention from metrics that you should keep track on (good for overall sentiment and trend) towards deeper questions that would help you spot areas to improve. Use this as introduction and start reading more posts by John Allspaw if you care about sustainable production ops.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
John Allspaw will shift your attention from metrics that you should keep track on (good for overall sentiment and trend) towards deeper questions that would help you spot areas to improve. Use this as introduction and start reading more posts by John Allspaw if you care about sustainable production ops.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Don Valentine, the Greatest of All Time. I Spent the Morning Watching His GSB Talk. (thread)
3 minutes read.
I've heard about Don Valentine's death and found myself listening to a lot of his talks, sharing the way Sequoia Captial invested in startups. Jeff Morris shares one that you should listen to (commute time is great) if you're considering building a VC-backed company or joining one. Jeff also shares his takeaways in this thread, which I highly recommend.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
I've heard about Don Valentine's death and found myself listening to a lot of his talks, sharing the way Sequoia Captial invested in startups. Jeff Morris shares one that you should listen to (commute time is great) if you're considering building a VC-backed company or joining one. Jeff also shares his takeaways in this thread, which I highly recommend.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
I Stopped Setting a Financial Goal for My SaaS
5 minutes read.
I don't share enough stories from smaller companies, or companies of 1 (sometimes known as Indie Hackers). Most smaller companies focus on building sustainable businesses rather than "Go big or go home," chasing after growth or shutting down the company. I enjoyed this post by Takuya Matsuyama as it helps you think about what would make you and others around you sustainable founders or employees - focusing on happiness, flow, and impact. Otherwise, people will leave (or you will leave) after feeling burnout.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
I don't share enough stories from smaller companies, or companies of 1 (sometimes known as Indie Hackers). Most smaller companies focus on building sustainable businesses rather than "Go big or go home," chasing after growth or shutting down the company. I enjoyed this post by Takuya Matsuyama as it helps you think about what would make you and others around you sustainable founders or employees - focusing on happiness, flow, and impact. Otherwise, people will leave (or you will leave) after feeling burnout.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Advice to My Younger Self
8 minutes read.
This post by Alex Maccaw (based on a speech he gave) made me pause and think about my lessons learned. I'm 35 years old, and I find myself thinking a lot about what I'd like my kids to experience or take from me. What would you share with your younger version or with your kids? What would you show them, or which stories you'd tell as evidence for these lessons?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
8 minutes read.
This post by Alex Maccaw (based on a speech he gave) made me pause and think about my lessons learned. I'm 35 years old, and I find myself thinking a lot about what I'd like my kids to experience or take from me. What would you share with your younger version or with your kids? What would you show them, or which stories you'd tell as evidence for these lessons?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
If You're Feeling Down Lately, Here's a Quick Test to Figure Out Why (Thread)
3 minutes read.
Pieter Levels is one of my favorite makers. Use his set of questions to do a sanity check for your mental state. A good "reset question" I tend to ask myself when feeling down is "Am I doing what I love with people I love at least 60% of my time?" -- it reminds me of the actions I did, the impact it had, and the faces of people around me I love.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
Pieter Levels is one of my favorite makers. Use his set of questions to do a sanity check for your mental state. A good "reset question" I tend to ask myself when feeling down is "Am I doing what I love with people I love at least 60% of my time?" -- it reminds me of the actions I did, the impact it had, and the faces of people around me I love.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
The Art of Unlearning
14 minutes read.
I've been reading Scott Young's post for the third time this year. "The main challenge of unlearning, therefore, is that most of our false or doubtful assumptions about the areas that impact our lives are never examined." -- feeling too comfortable with your knowledge puts you at risk for learning new skills and being open to feedback.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
14 minutes read.
I've been reading Scott Young's post for the third time this year. "The main challenge of unlearning, therefore, is that most of our false or doubtful assumptions about the areas that impact our lives are never examined." -- feeling too comfortable with your knowledge puts you at risk for learning new skills and being open to feedback.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@lpolovets: Meetings are real life z-indexes. They cover your schedule until you have little time for actual work.
@rishmishra: When I cofouned my last company, I wanted to build each little part of it one at a time until perfection. The better thing to do is: (1) cheaply scaffold the entire value chain (2) observe how the parts interact (3) optimize the system as a whole
- 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.