Curated Content June 2022
A few pieces of content I thought were worthwhile in the month of June.
Articles
What Makes a Great Manager of Software Engineers
A great article on attributes and behaviors that make up great software engineering managers. A must read for frontline managers, directors, and above to understand what your teams need.
Books
Imaginable - Jane McGonigal
Another great one from Jane McGonigal (see Reality is Broken, if you haven't), this book focuses on imagining future scenarios in order to understand how and why the future may play out in unexpected ways and prepare yourself for it. Applicable to social and business issues alike, it gives concrete exercises to build your ability to glimpse potential futures and act.
Podcasts
Farming Seaweed to Reduce Cattle Emissions with Joan Salwen of Blue Ocean Barns
Different from my usual recommendation set. I really enjoy the Future of Agriculture podcast. This one is less tech heavy, at least in how they present it, but incredibly interesting to me, as Joan Salwen introduces a technique they are pioneering in order to reduce methane emissions in cattle by 80%. This could lead us to a world where cattle is carbon neutral.
Obviously there are other moral/ethical/philosophical reasons to opt not to consume these kinds of animal products, but given that I don't see us being able to reasonably get everyone onboard with that, this technology could represent an amazing opportunity to continue food production with less negative impact to the environment.
Architecture Matters, technology doesn't with Dave Mangot
On this episode of the CTO Connection podcast Dave Mangot does a great job showcasing something I've been attempting to articulate for a while. That architecture matters, but is independent of technology choices. This is important because it opens up a variety options for delivering business value through good architecture without tying it to new hot technology trends.
Tweets
A 🧵 on the most popular advice in product
— John Cutler (@johncutlefish) June 19, 2022
"We need to focus"
"Focus, focus, focus"
"We need to prioritize"
I hear these things daily in teams everywhere.
But I've come to realize something. Instead of focusing on WHAT to focus on, focus on focusing. Let me explain.
(1/9)
A great Tweet thread from @johncutlefish on ensuring your organization doesn't slip out of the habit of focusing in order to deliver.
🧵 Three Myths of Headcount
— Pedro Franceschi (@pedroh96) June 10, 2022
Headcount is a topic of huge debate in any startup. It's your largest expense, and many people see it as a silver bullet. It isn’t.
👇 Here’s three myths of headcount.
A thread from Pedro Franceschi on different ways organizations can think about headcount incorrectly, especially toward the end where often the constraint holding back an organization is not headcount, but leadership bandwidth in order to direct effort.
There's a thread on HN (not linking to avoid implicit shaming) asking what a company is doing wrong that it can't get sufficient senior engineers to apply to it given that they do no outreach and are effectively average in every way.
— Patrick McKenzie (@patio11) June 20, 2022
I recommend not being average in every way.
A thread on keys for startups to be able to continue hiring successfully even when the deck is stacked against you considerably. The key is you have to be different in some meaningful way, and sell that difference to candidates early and often in the hiring process.