My Problem With The Four-Document Model
- Hillel Wayne tl;dr: Hillel critiques the 4doc model for user documentation, highlighting that it's not universal or comprehensive. While effective for tools, it may not suit frameworks and languages. The key takeaway is that relying solely on the 4doc model can limit documentation effectiveness, and a more flexible approach that considers the specific subject being documented is encouraged.featured in #438
The Not-App-Building Parts Of Building An App
tl;dr: "A surprising amount of developer time is spent on making apps usable for large companies, a group that has a rigorous and sometimes oddly specific list of requirements... This post is going to break down how developers make apps enterprise-ready and why a disproportionate amount of time is spent on these seemingly niche features." The author discusses critical requirements, notably Authentication, Directory Sync, Authorization and Audit Logging.featured in #438
Attention Is All A Manager Needs
- Phil Calçado tl;dr: “All this talk about managing information at scale makes me think of challenges faced by engineering managers and directors as they have to deal with both information overload and scarcity simultaneously. This is a recurring major topic when coaching new managers or folks who made the transition to senior management. In this article, I am going to discuss the challenges and offer a few practical tools that have worked for me in my own journey.”featured in #437
A/B Testing Examples From Airbnb And YC's Top Companies
- Ian Vanagas tl;dr: Ian provides a comprehensive look at A/B testing examples from various successful companies, including Monzo, Instacart, Coinbase, Airbnb, and Convoy. It explores different approaches to A/B testing, such as Monzo's low-risk "pellets" strategy, Instacart's complex sampling problem-solving, Coinbase's scaling of tests, Airbnb's interleaving and dynamic p-values, and Convoy's Bayesian approach.featured in #437
Square’s Updated Growth Framework For Engineers And Engineering Managers
tl;dr: Square has updated its Growth Framework for Engineers and Engineering Managers, reflecting significant changes over the past four years. The revised levels guide hiring, promotion, and encode the company's values, with a focus on clarity, consistency, and adaptability.featured in #437
Manage Your Priorities And Energy
- Will Larson tl;dr: Will reflect on his shift from a 'company, team, self' framework to an eventual ‘quid pro quo' approach during his management tenure at Uber. His ‘quid pro quo' approach is: (1) Generally, prioritize company and team priorities over your own. (2) If you are getting de-energized, artificially prioritize some energizing work. Increase the quantity until equilibrium is restored. (3) If the long-term balance between energy and proper priorities can’t be balanced for more than a year, stop everything else and work on solving this issue e.g. change your role or quit. Will emphasizes the importance of remaining flexible and curious.featured in #436
A Strategic Approach To Replacing Data Historians
- Jason Myers tl;dr: Transitioning from legacy data historians to modern technologies in IoT / OT stacks can be achieved strategically. This involves automating manual processes, managing changes in legacy technology, and considering new tools during equipment upgrades and operational growth. Start small, scale sensibly.featured in #436
Building And Operating A Pretty Big Storage System Called S3
- Werner Vogels tl;dr: A repost of an article by Andy Warfield, VP of S3, reflects on the vast complexity and operational scale of Amazon's storage software system. Andy discusses the significance of recognizing and mitigating organizational scaling issues, similar to optimizing systems. He also discusses management’s approach to foster team ownership for problem-solving instead of dispensing solutions has led to more engaged and successful engineering outcomes.featured in #436
featured in #436
Cultivating A Culture Of Excellence
- Mike Fisher tl;dr: The authors stress the significance of a culture of excellence in promoting product innovation and success. Empowering teams with authority and accountability, focusing on meaningful metrics rather than vanity ones, strategic hiring, nurturing team dynamics, encouraging experimentation, and setting clear objectives are vital factors in fostering exceptional results and maintaining a competitive edge.featured in #435