Software Lead Weekly
Issue #363, 8th November 2019
This Week's Favorite
Informal Communication
6 minutes read.
GitLab is an incredible company to look at when it comes to sharing explicit methods and frameworks of how to work there. It's great for new employees who need to understand how to get the job done, and for potential new hires who can get a feel for the company from the outside. As an all-remote company, this is absolutely necessary, but you can copy a lot of their practices even if you're co-located.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
GitLab is an incredible company to look at when it comes to sharing explicit methods and frameworks of how to work there. It's great for new employees who need to understand how to get the job done, and for potential new hires who can get a feel for the company from the outside. As an all-remote company, this is absolutely necessary, but you can copy a lot of their practices even if you're co-located.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
We Must Track This Kid and Make Him President in 30 Years
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.
My Company Sold for $100 Million and I Got Zilch. How Can That Be?
5 minutes read.
Heidi Roizen with a post I think everyone who work at a startup (or thinking of working in a startup at some point) have to read. We owe our teammates to be transparent about their compensation, or we shouldn't offer that at all. Learn to ask the right questions, and find a place that will be transparent about the deal you're getting.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Heidi Roizen with a post I think everyone who work at a startup (or thinking of working in a startup at some point) have to read. We owe our teammates to be transparent about their compensation, or we shouldn't offer that at all. Learn to ask the right questions, and find a place that will be transparent about the deal you're getting.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Do We Have to Love Our Work?
4 minutes read.
I don't know what I feel about Paul Jarvis's view, but I enjoyed thinking about it this week. Focusing on passion is just a dimension in a complicated decision. I think that it should be there (yes, I believe you should love your job if you have the option to select one), but we should also look for a sustainable environment that can nurture our passion and our skills.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
I don't know what I feel about Paul Jarvis's view, but I enjoyed thinking about it this week. Focusing on passion is just a dimension in a complicated decision. I think that it should be there (yes, I believe you should love your job if you have the option to select one), but we should also look for a sustainable environment that can nurture our passion and our skills.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
On Messing Up Your Remote Team—And Then Getting It Right
5 minutes read.
Hiring remote employees should come at a point of organizational maturity - where the business/market/product direction and how the team work together is more structured. As someone who works in a "distributed setup" (multiple offices), I think that settling for the timezone difference in the early stage is a good advice. It reduces a lot of the friction and allows you to earn mutual trust while focusing on working together in async manner most of the time.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Hiring remote employees should come at a point of organizational maturity - where the business/market/product direction and how the team work together is more structured. As someone who works in a "distributed setup" (multiple offices), I think that settling for the timezone difference in the early stage is a good advice. It reduces a lot of the friction and allows you to earn mutual trust while focusing on working together in async manner most of the time.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
What Are You Favorite Podcast Interviews? Here Are Some of Mine (Thread)
2 minutes read.
I have at least 75 minutes every day to listen to podcasts while commuting to work. I've shared some of my favorite interviews in the past couple of years, and I'd love to discover new ones if you want to share. Reach out on our SWLW Slack channel or ping me via Twitter.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
2 minutes read.
I have at least 75 minutes every day to listen to podcasts while commuting to work. I've shared some of my favorite interviews in the past couple of years, and I'd love to discover new ones if you want to share. Reach out on our SWLW Slack channel or ping me via Twitter.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Seven Tips for a Junior Developer
6 minutes read.
Pearl Leff shares helpful tips for engineers who are still new in their journey. I really enjoyed this paragraph as part of "Keep track of what’s going on in the industry": "Reading is a superpower because it lets you see through others' eyes, and reading what people in the industry have spent thirty years discovering will prevent you from spending thirty years discovering the same thing. It also gives you perspective on what people in different roles on a team and in a company want from you, the challenges that they face in achieving what they want to achieve, and what you can do to make their lives easier."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
Pearl Leff shares helpful tips for engineers who are still new in their journey. I really enjoyed this paragraph as part of "Keep track of what’s going on in the industry": "Reading is a superpower because it lets you see through others' eyes, and reading what people in the industry have spent thirty years discovering will prevent you from spending thirty years discovering the same thing. It also gives you perspective on what people in different roles on a team and in a company want from you, the challenges that they face in achieving what they want to achieve, and what you can do to make their lives easier."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Growing Your Tech Stack: When to Say No
5 minutes read.
How would you guide your team for which areas are riskier to experiment with when it comes to your tech stack? Jessica Kerr offers a helpful framework to start with, including how to judge the pros & cons, costs, and incentives for each area. Share it with your team and see if you can agree on your "risk spectrum." This can be helpful for others who join the company.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
How would you guide your team for which areas are riskier to experiment with when it comes to your tech stack? Jessica Kerr offers a helpful framework to start with, including how to judge the pros & cons, costs, and incentives for each area. Share it with your team and see if you can agree on your "risk spectrum." This can be helpful for others who join the company.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@JamesClear: Your actions are a consequence of your thoughts. Your thoughts are a consequence of what you consume. And in the modern age, what you consume is largely a consequence of how you select and refine your social media feed. Choose better inputs. Get better outputs.
- 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.