/Management

It's All Just Leadership After All

- James Stanier tl;dr: "The pertinent question is whether you should manage senior managers and senior ICs differently. After all, they have different roles and responsibilities, and so it would be natural to assume the way that you manage a Staff Engineer would be different than the way that you manage an Engineering Manager. Right? Nope, that assumption would also be wrong. Sorry. You don't need special approaches for managing both roles. In fact, you can apply the same strategy to both, and not only does this simplify your approach, it actually encourages the best behaviors from both roles." James discusses his approach. 

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The Human Side Of Software Engineering Teams

- Abi Noda tl;dr: Developers were asked to rate a set of challenges to determine which factors had the highest impact. The two most impactful challenges identified were insufficient analysis at the beginning of a task and lack of leadership. Other impactful challenges included missing documentation, demotivation, and information not being made known to the team. Abi discusses how to address these. 

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Tests Are Bad For Developers

- Stephan Schmidt tl;dr: Stephan argues that while tests are crucial for software development, they are perceived negatively by developers because they highlight mistakes without immediate benefits. He suggests that tests become a burden when under business pressure, as they can lead to blame for missed deadlines. Stephan advocates for tests as non-negotiable and part of professional engineering, urging QA to support developers in creating effective tests.

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Organize Your Week As An Engineering Manager

- Nicola Ballotta tl;dr: "What should my week look like, and what exactly should I be doing?" This question is particularly pertinent for those who have transitioned from a developer role, where their schedule was often tightly structured and well-defined. In this essay, I aim not only to provide answers to these questions but also to guide you through the process of creating a weekly calendar that reflects the typical responsibilities of an EM."

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Hire Better Managers: 35 Interview Questions For Assessing A Candidate

tl;dr: (1) What are 1-2 questions you always ask your team members in one-on-one meetings, and why? (2) If I asked someone on your team about your leadership style, what would they say? (3) Tell me about a time when you delved into significant detail and got your hands dirty. (4) What ritual or practice have you found to be most effective for helping your team connect and collaborate? (5) Why did you leave IC work?

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Making Sure Your Auth System Can Scale

- James Hickey tl;dr: The balance between authentication security and performance is a perpetual challenge. This article dives into the heart of this issue, emphasizing the trade-off between stringent security practices and system scalability. You'll find practical tips to maintain secure auth while meeting customer demands, and discover strategies to make sure your systems remain secure and efficient.

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Explain Like I'm Five

- Andrew Bosworth tl;dr: From the CTO at Meta: "Whatever simple explanations lack in nuance, they make up for in power. People remember them. They become the basis for future knowledge... A good team faced with a hard problem will produce a rigorous document. A great team faced with the same problem will produce a single page. People often aspire to explain the complexity they uncover. But the opposite is more valuable."

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6 Software Engineering Templates I Wish I Had Sooner

- Ryan Peterman tl;dr: "This post captures my favorite templates that I use to structure my thoughts and save time." The following templates are shared in word documents: (1) Engineering design doc. (2) Postmortem review. (3) Diff (or PR) Summary. (4) Direction doc. (5) Eng project management. (6) Launch post.

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Measuring Product-Market Fit Is More Than Vibes

- Andy Vandervell tl;dr: Andy presents product-market fit (PMF), not as a magical occurrence, but as something measurable. Steps to measure PMF include tracking high-value events, creating an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), launching PMF surveys, and monitoring retention. Andy underscores the importance of understanding the market and ensuring that paying customers align with the startup's ICP. 

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Private Estimates, Public Progress

- Kent Beck tl;dr: On Monday morning the whole team i.e. engineering, product, customers, testers, designers, etc... asks and answers the same question: “What is most important for us to accomplish this week?” Then ask, “What can we actually accomplish this week?” On Friday afternoon get together & say, “How did we do? How did we react to surprises? Customers, how are you feeling? Engineers, how did the work flow? Product, how are customers acting in aggregate? Designers, how did your work flow & how are customers reacting?" Kent argues that this process creates energy amongst the team, a better sense of scope, collaboration, alignment and adaptation. 

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