featured in #353
Group Dynamics: The Leader's Toolkit
tl;dr: "One of the most significant themes in my practice is the leader whose team of direct reports are experiencing difficulties working together." Ed guides us through the following tools leaders have here: (1) Logistics: ways of meeting that could be more impactful. (2) One-on-ones: feedback is normal and frequent. (3) Group facilitation: emphasis on process, as opposed to content. (4) Group observation: the group can observe. (5) Group composition: the right people are involved.featured in #352
featured in #352
The Viable Systems Model, And Where My Team Fits
- Jessica Kerr tl;dr: "A viable system continues to function in a changing environment. We want our companies—and some teams—to be sustainable this way. How does your team contribute? Does your team have all the components of a viable system… and should it?" Jessica discusses the viable systems five subsystems, characteristics of each, and more.featured in #351
How To Get Helpful, Actionable Feedback From Your Colleagues
- Lara Hogan tl;dr: Asking “is there anything I can do better” rarely elicits a helpful response. Instead, identify a skill you’re hoping to improve and request feedback on it. "This approach has the benefit of being easier for the person giving you feedback, and more impactful and useful for you." For example, if you want to improve in strategy, ask the following questions (1) "what outcomes - positive or negative - have you seen from my efforts at strategy?" (2) “What new approaches or tactics do you think I should experiment with here?”featured in #350
'Drawing Your Three Maps' Exercise
- Will Larson tl;dr: The quick exercise is designed to better understand your engineering organization from various perspectives. Will explains how to draw a locator map (where are you?), a topographical map (how hard is it to go nearby places?), and a treasure map (where are the places that are really worth going?)," designed to show opportunities to improve your processes. Will also shares what he leant from the exercise.featured in #350
The SOC 2 Compliance Checklist
tl;dr: Ready to simplify the time-consuming, tedious process of proving compliance — starting with industry fave SOC 2? Here’s a free SOC 2 compliance checklist from Vanta, the leading automated security and compliance platform. Attend a demo, and lunch is on Vanta.featured in #350
What Distinguishes Great Software Engineers?
- Abi Noda tl;dr: Based on a research paper by Microsoft, Abi discusses the five traits: (1) Being a competent coder - paying attention to details, capable of handling complexity. (2) Maximizing current value of their work - anticipating future needs, intentional about trade-offs. (3) Practicing informed decision-making - gathering information to make informed decisions, open-minded. (4) Enabling others to make decisions efficiently - creates shared understanding with others. (5) Continuous learning - capacity to learn.featured in #349
Technical Evaluation Of A Startup
- Ian Langworth tl;dr: "In February 2021 I was asked to do a technical evaluation of a startup. The team had 7-10 engineers but lacked senior technical leadership, and the investment team and CEO wanted to make sure they were on track. I’ve sent this to a few other fractional CTOs who found it helpful, and maybe you will, too."featured in #349
Real-World Engineering Challenges #5
- Gergely Orosz tl;dr: "A series in which I interpret interesting software engineering or engineering management case studies from tech companies. You might learn something new in these articles, as we dive into the concepts they contain." Includes: (1) Resilient payments systems learnings from Shopify. (2) Designing a solution to store and access millions of records by Grab. (3) The challenges of the analytics infrastructure platform team at Yelp. And more.featured in #348