Software Lead Weekly
Issue #374, 24th January 2020
This Week's Favorite
Why Do Smart Companies & Orgs Make Stupid Mistakes? (Thread)
5 minutes read.
The preventable problem paradox: Any complex organization will, over time, tend to incentivize problem creation more than problem prevention. This entire thread (do watch the video inside!) is a must-read for anyone in your organization. To give you some ideas on how to deal with it, read the thread I've shared below - part of the Peopleware section.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
The preventable problem paradox: Any complex organization will, over time, tend to incentivize problem creation more than problem prevention. This entire thread (do watch the video inside!) is a must-read for anyone in your organization. To give you some ideas on how to deal with it, read the thread I've shared below - part of the Peopleware section.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
"Don't Worry About This Tech Debt, We'll Clean It Up Next Sprint." Senior Developer:
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face. Do share it with Product Managers.
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. Do share it with Product Managers.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Work Is Work
9 minutes read.
One of my favorite posts this week. A couple of notes: (1) When you read it and think "we should automate further, and build more tools," also consider the training involved and how to get all teams to be more autonomous. The hard part is doing it in a way where improvement in automation is being utilized by all groups, and not only by the local team. (2) "Go long on high-leverage tools, but stay grounded in whether or not they actually help." — when developing internal tools, measurements (how and by whom it’s being used), and SLA (uptime/latency) are critical. Just like any other production system.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
9 minutes read.
One of my favorite posts this week. A couple of notes: (1) When you read it and think "we should automate further, and build more tools," also consider the training involved and how to get all teams to be more autonomous. The hard part is doing it in a way where improvement in automation is being utilized by all groups, and not only by the local team. (2) "Go long on high-leverage tools, but stay grounded in whether or not they actually help." — when developing internal tools, measurements (how and by whom it’s being used), and SLA (uptime/latency) are critical. Just like any other production system.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Good Businesses Have Margin (Not Only Profit Margin)
4 minutes read.
"Good businesses have margin. Profit margin? Yes. But also margin for your time, your emotional and physical health, your relationships, your sanity, and your integrity. You're a human, and humans need breathing room." -- Justin Jackson with a beautiful reminder that sustainability is a big part of building a healthy business.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
"Good businesses have margin. Profit margin? Yes. But also margin for your time, your emotional and physical health, your relationships, your sanity, and your integrity. You're a human, and humans need breathing room." -- Justin Jackson with a beautiful reminder that sustainability is a big part of building a healthy business.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Rate-Of-Learning: The Most Valuable Startup Compensation
5 minutes read.
Kyle Tibbitts reminds us that Rate-Of-Learning should become an unfair advantage your company has to offer to current and future employees. This is true if you're working in a small startup or a bigger company (I don't think that ROL is something only startups have to offer). Think about it: how can you get your teammates to learn more with you in the next 6 months? Do you know enough for which type of learning they're looking for? How can you increase their velocity?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Kyle Tibbitts reminds us that Rate-Of-Learning should become an unfair advantage your company has to offer to current and future employees. This is true if you're working in a small startup or a bigger company (I don't think that ROL is something only startups have to offer). Think about it: how can you get your teammates to learn more with you in the next 6 months? Do you know enough for which type of learning they're looking for? How can you increase their velocity?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Mind-Wandering and the Dark Side of Productivity
5 minutes read.
There are parts in me who find comfort in reading the section about "The dark side of always-on productivity." but I like this framing: "By letting us re-experience past events, simulate how others feel, explore our values, and engage in learning, maybe the Default Mode Network goes to those places because it needs to." -- in the past, I was optimizing for a false sense of productivity, investing every minute I had in learning and doing. Most of the time, it led to me burning out. Nowadays, I'm trying to optimize for sustainability, looking to grow while being happy as I set my expectations (with my self, my wife, and my teammates at work) early.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
There are parts in me who find comfort in reading the section about "The dark side of always-on productivity." but I like this framing: "By letting us re-experience past events, simulate how others feel, explore our values, and engage in learning, maybe the Default Mode Network goes to those places because it needs to." -- in the past, I was optimizing for a false sense of productivity, investing every minute I had in learning and doing. Most of the time, it led to me burning out. Nowadays, I'm trying to optimize for sustainability, looking to grow while being happy as I set my expectations (with my self, my wife, and my teammates at work) early.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
One Our Team Goals Is to "Build Reliable Systems So We Can Go Vacation Without a Laptop". Any Super Thoughtful Ideas on How to Measure Engineering Team Health and Happiness? I'm Knowingly Wading Into a Complex Topic Here. Let's Brainstorm Together and Debate. (Thread)
5 minutes read.
Jeff Weinstein raised an important question that is difficult to answer. I'd like you to think about it - how would you measure that? How would you define healthy or happy in "work context"? I think setting expectations on what is healthy and what is happy with the team is where you should start. I'd start by defining "Good Enough" metrics (on-call, context switches, manual work, etc.) as a critical baseline first, to make sure you can get out of chaos mode (constant firefighting) if that's the case. Then, I'd let them team define how healthy and happy looks like in clear and concrete examples they can achieve within the next 3 months. More than that, you get constant depression.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Jeff Weinstein raised an important question that is difficult to answer. I'd like you to think about it - how would you measure that? How would you define healthy or happy in "work context"? I think setting expectations on what is healthy and what is happy with the team is where you should start. I'd start by defining "Good Enough" metrics (on-call, context switches, manual work, etc.) as a critical baseline first, to make sure you can get out of chaos mode (constant firefighting) if that's the case. Then, I'd let them team define how healthy and happy looks like in clear and concrete examples they can achieve within the next 3 months. More than that, you get constant depression.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Burning Out and Finding Stability
5 minutes read.
Jonnie Hallman shares a very personal story I think all of us can relate to at some point in our career. Finding sustainability in our career and personal life is something I wish more people would talk about. I've been thinking about it a lot in the past few years, figuring out decision frameworks for myself at work and home.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Jonnie Hallman shares a very personal story I think all of us can relate to at some point in our career. Finding sustainability in our career and personal life is something I wish more people would talk about. I've been thinking about it a lot in the past few years, figuring out decision frameworks for myself at work and home.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@david_perell: Book clubs are a cheat code. Every time I do one, I remember the book 5x better. It takes 20 hours to read a book, but only 2 extra hours to talk about it with friends. Better friendships. Faster learning.
- 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.