/Management

Headline Driven Development

- Slava Akhmechet tl;dr: Process involves: (1) Decomposing the project into a stream of headlines. (2) Picking an aggressive ship date for the first headline and working hard to meet it. (3) Having everyone focus only on one headline at a time - the upcoming one. (4) Ignoring everything else that doesn't help ship the current headline. (5) Once a headline ships, switching to the next one and repeating. This process works well as for three reasons - headlines is how humans process change, prioritization is easy and setting deadlines is effective. 

featured in #504

3 Hours to 3 Minutes: How Mobile reCell Is Importing Customer Data 60x Faster

- Will Genesen tl;dr: Mobile reCell streamlined their customer data import process, reducing file cleaning time from 3 hours to 3 minutes. By leveraging the pre-built validation library and intuitive interface with smart suggestions, they quickly set up validations for key workflows. The engineering team fine-tuned the implementation to focus on critical data points while allowing flexibility for less critical customer data. 

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15 Principles For Managing Up

- Wes Kao tl;dr: Wes gives phrases of how to verbalize each: (1) Embrace managing up. (2) Focus on the punchline. (3) Show your thought process. (4) Flag potential issues. (5) Bring solutions, not complaints. (6) Use information hierarchy. (7) Keep your manager in the loop. (8) Are you being micromanaged, or do you need to communicate better? (9) Over-communication might be the right amount. (10) Proactively assert what to do. (11) Don’t only ask questions. Share your point of view too. (12) Anticipate questions. (13) Know when to get out. (14) Be explicit about what you need. (15) Expect to manage up forever. 

featured in #504

15 Principles For Managing Up

- Wes Kao tl;dr: Wes gives phrases of how to verbalize each: (1) Embrace managing up. (2) Focus on the punchline. (3) Show your thought process. (4) Flag potential issues. (5) Bring solutions, not complaints. (6) Use information hierarchy. (7) Keep your manager in the loop. (8) Are you being micromanaged, or do you need to communicate better? (9) Over-communication might be the right amount. (10) Proactively assert what to do. (11) Don’t only ask questions. Share your point of view too. (12) Anticipate questions. (13) Know when to get out. (14) Be explicit about what you need. (15) Expect to manage up forever. 

featured in #503

Improving Code Reviews With Storytelling

- Chandler Mayo Nic Manoogian tl;dr: At Doppler, we've enhanced our code reviews by weaving storytelling into git history, making reviews insightful and efficient. This approach, focusing on clear commit narratives, not only speeds up reviews but also fosters a culture of clarity, learning, and collaboration within our team.

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Leadership And Willpower

- Mike Fisher tl;dr: Mikes discusses the concept of a Level 5 leader: “They defy conventional expectations. They are a paradox in that they are humble yet determined and modest yet fearless. This potent blend fuels their ability to inspire unwavering dedication in their teams towards a shared vision. Their quiet confidence and strong convictions propel them to elevate organizations from good to great.” He discusses how we can build our willpower by regulrly doing difficult things. 

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Performance Management: The Rising Tide

- James Stanier tl;dr: A good performance management system includes: (1) Clear definitions of performance expectations for each role. (2) Regular performance review processes - self-assessment, manager assessment, peer feedback. (3) Calibration to ensure fairness and consistency across the organization. (4) Performance Improvement Plan process for underperforming employees. (5) Compensation process tied to performance outcomes. James discusses how this generates a power curve over time. 

featured in #502

Saving 45% On Streaming Costs

tl;dr: SlashedCloud's video encoding solution offers AV1 and H.265 at a fraction of the cost compared to anything available online, making it a cost-saver for your business. Save up to 45% on your streaming bandwidth bill and improve your user experience with faster and higher quality streaming. 

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Design Engineering

- David Hoang tl;dr: David discusses the emerging role of Design Engineers in software development, drawing parallels to how Data Scientists became a crucial role in the past decades. Design Engineering is a blend of two conventional roles combining deep knowledge of technological systems with the ability to scale interface quality. The three core areas where Design Engineers can lead are: (1) Product architecture (2) Design infrastructure (3) R&D. 

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Using Metrics To Measure Individual Developer Performance

- Laura Tacho tl;dr: Laura reframes this into another question that leaders need to ask to evaluate reports: “what data are you going to use to evaluate my performance?” Her high level advice, which the article dives into: (1) Determine how you want to measure performance first, then find metrics to measure what's important to your company. (2) Focus on outcomes over output, using output metrics mainly to debug missed outcomes. (3) Watch out for metrics encouraging the wrong behaviors. (4) Metrics alone aren't enough - you still need active performance management and feedback. 

featured in #502