Software Lead Weekly Software Lead Weekly

No Kings: How Do You Make Good Decisions Efficiently in a Flat Organization?
6 minutes read.

Roman Imankulov with one of my favorite read this year. I took so many ideas and questions/framing from it, where the section about "The art of asking for input" is excellent (use it on your next meeting!). Share it with your teammates and consider spending some time together to define what "fundamentally flawed" means in your company.

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Work Smarter, Not Harder
1 minutes read.

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

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Great Developers Are Raised, Not Hired
4 minutes read.

I'm not sure I agree with the framing Eduards Sizovs is offering, I do think this is the right north star for nurturing healthy and sustainable teams. Teach your team how to look for these qualities of intrinsic motivation and growth mindset: "Adjust your interview process and give a chance to candidates that are not good enough yet, but are eager to learn and have a growth mindset. They are raw diamonds."

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How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably
5 minutes read.

"There is a famous saying from Napolean Hill which says, "If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way". I would actually argue the quote should be, "If you cannot do great things, do small things a great number of times"." -- Steph Smith with a statement that I fully agree with. Nurture the habit of showing up and pushing yourself a step forward every time.

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The Go-For-It-Window
4 minutes read.

The concept of Go-For-It-Window is interesting to think about also inside a company. "No matter who you are, where you work, or what you’re interested in, there are hidden opportunities in front of you. If you’re blinded by outdated social norms, you’ll miss opportunities in the Go-For-It Window. " -- Think of the way your company executes and see if you can figure out significant opportunities by taking a different path. For example, can you record your meetings (1:1s? Design Reviews?) and analyze it via software (capture action items, analyze tone and the way feedback was given, etc.)? Companies like Bridgewater are doing that today, and while it's hard to get right, it's also worth thinking about how changing our social norms can open up a door to a radical transformation in our personal growth.

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Confidence Without Ego
3 minutes read.

"Confidence is a funny thing. It's necessary for you to do absolutely anything in life. Too little confidence and you're unable to act; too much confidence, and you're unable to hear." -- John Maeda made me smile and inspired me to think about that subtle balance we should strive for.

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How I Survived Insane Hypergrowth at Airbnb
9 minutes read.

Jonathan Golden shares the core values I think Airbnb has that helped them to become such a huge success. Get your senior individual contributors (all departments) to help you promote this mindset: "It’s important to keep a positive attitude even when the heat is on. There will always be people who are ready to throw up their hands and claim that nothing will work[...] Don’t despair — make a plan and get everyone paddling in the same direction. Putting out fires is how you will spend most of your time, so think creatively. Take some risks. Just work through the issue and you’ll get to the finish line."

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Under-Valued Skills of Good Startup Founders: 1. Ability to Create Process 2. Writing Clearly 3. Delaying Gratification 4. Knowing When Not to Talk 5. Saying No to Almost Everything, but Yes When It Truly Matters What Else? (Thread)
3 minutes read.

"Knowing when not to talk" and "Writing clearly" are still so rare to see. I liked Amir Shevat's addition "Being able to align team goals." Can you think of other skills worth adding to the list?

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@rands: Management is the art of telling someone else how to win.

@CrazyPolymath: You don't need 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert; you need 10,000 feedback loops to become an expert. To gain expertise in a skill faster, shorten the feedback loop, and increase the number of iterations.