Issue #519, 4th November 2022

This Week's Favorite


How Open Source Is Eating AI
7 minutes read.

"Sufficiently advanced community is indistinguishable from magic" -- Generative AI infrastructure is taking off, leading to numerous projects that generate incredible results with video, text, and photos. OSS > API sums it up beautifully.

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Culture


Using This Next Time I Need to Explain a Deadlock in Software
1 minutes read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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Framing → Shaping
5 minutes read.

The Framing to Shaping methodology that Ryan Singer shares can help make ideation easier to follow. Framing is about scoping for business impact and reducing the chance of low-impact outcomes, while Shaping allows us to choose the right path and execute effectively.

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What Is a Developer Experience Team?
6 minutes read.

Brilliant post by Abi Noda, covering the evolution of Developer Experience teams you can take and apply in your company. This will help you learn how other companies are approaching it (their mission statements) and which areas such teams can own as the company matures.

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A Mental Model for Addressing Burnout
4 minutes read.

Dan Pupius's post is a good reminder to have deeper conversations with your teammates on how they feel about the quality of their work and how we can improve the environment at work to bring people together. "Burnout is about the quality of the work experience, not the quantity of work. [...] This means ensuring people feel challenged with their work, that they receive recognition, have increasing responsibility, are able to do something meaningful, and feel agency in how decisions are made."

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Peopleware


How to Lead Strategically Every Day
6 minutes read.

"A while back, I was trying to figure out how to go from writing strategy docs to being a strategic leader. I realised that I needed to start with how I spend my own time and what I think about. My meeting calendar was running (ruining) my life, and there’s a good chance your calendar is running yours." -- Lena Reinhard's advice on the questions you use and habits to form (STABB framework) will help you own your plan rather than letting inertia manage your schedule.

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The Pros and Cons of Working Directly for the CEO
4 minutes read.

Jason Lemkin's post will help you realize what to do when you join an early-stage company without much structure, or if you join as a C-level/VP-level reporting directly to the CEO. You'll need to set an agenda based on high-level needs and be aggressive to achieve it.

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How to Present a Strategy in 6 Slides
7 minutes read.

I copied Shea Cole's format for how I present future decks when covering new initiatives I want to promote. Steal it. It will help you tell a better story to drive your idea forward.

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Inspiring Tweets


@AdamMGrant: We carry too much guilt about letting others down—and too little fear of letting ourselves down. We don't fully control whether we live up to others' expectations. We do decide whether we meet our own. The most important commitments to uphold are the ones you make to yourself.

@danshipper: Essays are good MVPs for products.

- Oren

P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.

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