Software Lead Weekly Software Lead Weekly

Big Data Is Dead
7 minutes read.

Jordan Tigani wrote a blog post that every mature company should include as part of the onboarding material: "An alternate definition of Big Data is "when the cost of keeping data around is less than the cost of figuring out what to throw away." I like this definition because it encapsulates why people end up with Big Data. It isn’t because they need it; they just haven’t bothered to delete it. If you think about many data lakes that organizations collect, they fit this bill entirely: giant, messy swamps where no one really knows what they hold or whether it is safe to clean them up."

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Designers Pitching a Full Design System to One Person Startups
1 minutes read.

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

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The Alternative to Performance Reviews for Software Engineers
16 minutes read.

Mario Caropreso with in-depth analysis of how to shift Performance Reviews to "Building an environment that fosters intrinsic motivation." -- I like the questions Mario suggests as it focuses on the customers, the team, and the individual. For example: "hich capabilities do we need to build or improve both at the individual and system levels to keep serving their [the customers'] needs?"

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DevEx Principles: Minimize Switching Contexts
4 minutes read.

Kathy Korevec covers a critical aspect of keeping people engaged with your product, creating a state of Flow: "The more powerful you can make existing tools, the more effective you'll make the developer."

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Fixing "Too Much WIP"
3 minutes read.

"I generally suspect two main contributing factors for why too much WIP happens: lack of strategy, overemphasis on utilisation." -- Jason Yip shares why WIP happens and tips to cope with it. I often find that having a rule of "at least 2 people working together on a problem" naturally reduces WIP and increases knowledge sharing within the team.

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Note to Future Self: Beware of Fake Urgency
4 minutes read.

"Fake urgency effectively delivers results - the team is likely to gather and complete it, as good teams tend to do. The downside is that fake urgency erodes trust, a fundamental trait of a healthy culture." -- Oded Blayer with an important reminder. The antidote is to build a sustainable company, one that people will feel proud working for ten years. This requires deeper trust, one that is easy to break.

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‘Cyclic Sighing’ Can Help Breathe Away Anxiety
6 minutes read.

Breathing techniques are still an area I feel I can leverage more in my life. Hadley Leggett covers how you can start with 5 minutes daily to reduce anxiety levels.

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My Role as a Founder CTO: Year Five
7 minutes read.

Miguel Carranza shares a personal summary with highlights, lowlights, and lessons learned as a CTO. It's a healthy habit to formalize, as it enables a longer perspective and analysis that can open up thinking in years and decades instead of months and years.

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@jenistyping: Why People & Culture work matters: When employees feel genuinely cared for by leaders / the org, they can finally stop worrying about what's best for themselves and start doing what's best for the team.

@Jack_Raines: Good writing informs, entertains, or incites an emotional response. Great writing does all three.