Curated Content June 2022

Articles

What Makes a Great Manager of Software Engineers

What Makes a Great Manager of Software Engineers? - Microsoft Research
Having great managers is as critical to success as having a good team or organization. In general, a great manager is seen as fuelling the team they manage, enabling it to use its full potential. Though software engineering research studies factors that may affect the performance and productivity of…

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

‎Future of Agriculture: FoA 313: Farming Seaweed to Reduce Cattle Emissions with Joan Salwen of Blue Ocean Barns on Apple Podcasts
‎Show Future of Agriculture, Ep FoA 313: Farming Seaweed to Reduce Cattle Emissions with Joan Salwen of Blue Ocean Barns - Jun 1, 2022

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

‎CTO Connection Podcast: Short Byte: Dave Mangot - Architecture matters, technology doesn’t on Apple Podcasts
‎Show CTO Connection Podcast, Ep Short Byte: Dave Mangot - Architecture matters, technology doesn’t - Jun 2, 2022

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 great Tweet thread from @johncutlefish on ensuring your organization doesn't slip out of the habit of focusing in order to deliver.

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.

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.