How DoorDash Fosters Meaningful Engineering Career Development
tl;dr: “In Q2 2023, we revisited our performance expectations for all engineers at DoorDash. We started by gathering a group of engineers to discuss which existing expectations were still relevant, and which ones were no longer serving us. We defined what we see as the traits of our most successful engineers at each level based on our three pillars: (1) Business Outcome: how engineers deliver impact based on our direction and goals. (2) People: how well we collaborate as a team and invest in each other’s development and success. (3) Engineering Excellence: the quality of our products and systems, how fast we can move, and how efficiently our systems use resources.” The team shares these performance expectations publicly, in this post.featured in #451
Elevate Your Performance Review Conversations With These 12 Expert Tips
tl;dr: (1) Hone your narrative with a personal press release. (2) Managers try this template to structure your next review conversation. (3) Zoom out to get a fuller picture. (4) Spend more time than you think you need to with your high performers. (5) Differentiate between interpersonal and performance feedback. (6) Ask this question to give feedback that lands - “Does this feedback resonate with you? Why or why not?”featured in #450
Common Authentication Implementation Risks And How To Mitigate Them
- James Hickey tl;dr: Data breaches are more common than ever. Ensuring a secure authentication system is critical to your trust with customers. Whether you build or buy your auth solution, this article offers insights into secure practices that can help keep you and your customers safe.featured in #450
LLMs Demand Observability-Driven Development
- Charity Majors tl;dr: “Many software engineers are encountering LLMs for the very first time, while many ML engineers are being exposed directly to production systems for the very first time. Both types of engineers are finding themselves plunged into a disorienting new world—one where a particular flavor of production problem they may have encountered occasionally in their careers is now front and center. Namely, that LLMs are black boxes that produce nondeterministic outputs and cannot be debugged or tested using traditional software engineering techniques. Hooking these black boxes up to production introduces reliability and predictability problems that can be terrifying.“ Charity believes that the integration of LLMs will necessitate a shift in development practices, particularly towards Observability-Driven Development, to handle the nondeterministic nature of these models.featured in #450
How Microsoft Does Quality Assurance (QA)
- Gergely Orosz tl;dr: Microsoft's approach to Quality Assurance (QA), focusing on the Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) role. The SDET role was designed for engineers who focused on writing automated tests and maintaining testing systems. "An SDET is a developer who works in a test team and not a development team." This role was retired around 2014, as Microsoft moved towards a more integrated approach where all software engineers became responsible for testing their code.featured in #450
Currencies (On Motivating Different People)
- Ed Batista tl;dr: Ed dicusses conventional approaches to motivation, referred to as "kicks in the ass" or KITA. These can be both negative (i.e. criticism) or positive (i.e. rewards). While rewards might induce “movement” or compliance, they don't necessarily equate to genuine motivation e.g. increasing compensation. Leadership experts introduce the concept of "currencies" as resources that can be exchanged to “gain influence.” Examples of these currencies include inspiration-related ones like "Vision" and "Values," task-related ones such as "Resources" and "Challenge," and personal ones like "Gratitude" and "Comfort." Ed emphasizes that while these currencies can be powerful tools, it's essential to discern if they lead to compliance or deeper commitment.featured in #449
4 Engineering Slides CEOs Love
tl;dr: The article shows the layout of four key slides, designed for an audience of non-engineering CEOs, presenting: (1) Overall Health Update - Snapshot of the team's production pipeline, efficiency, and developer experience compared to industry benchmarks. (2) Engineering Investment Strategy - Impact and execution health of ongoing projects, guiding resource allocation decisions. (3) Engineering Investment Updates - Highlights key project investments, detailing headcount, budget, business impact, and execution scores. (4) Engineering Health Update - Review of engineering metrics related to operational stability and bug tracking.featured in #448
The Ultimate Guide To Developer Counter-Productivity
- John Cutler tl;dr: John highlights 20+ specific areas where developers often lose productivity, including: (1) Reactive, unplanned work. (2) Context switching and startup costs. (3) Non-value-adding admin & compliance work. (5) Ineffective planning. (6) Dependency management overhead. (7) Ineffective meetings and communication. (8) Redundant manager briefing & orientation. (9) Consensus seeking and decision-making drag. (10) Ineffective collaboration arrangements. And more.featured in #448
CSV Import Solutions: A Build Vs Buy Analysis
tl;dr: Deciding between building or buying a CSV import tool? We surveyed companies on their top considerations when building or evaluating a data import solution, and put together an analysis to help you make the best decision for your team. Get the guide.featured in #448
The Journey To Staff Engineer: Main Takeaways
tl;dr: These takeaways are a roadmap for engineers aspiring to reach higher levels in their careers, based off of a conversation with several staff engineers at larger tech companies: (1) Make your work visible: It's essential not just to do the work but to ensure that others are aware of it. (2) Build relationships within and outside of your team. (3) Learn to lead: Staff engineers often influence without having the direct power of a manager. (4) Work on high-impact and complex technical projects, ideally, with others. (5) Promotion timelines vary and not everyone gets promoted quickly.featured in #447