SWLW #504: The Structure and Process Fallacy, Transitioning from Sprints to "Shape Up" Methodology, and more.

Heya,

As always, below you can read my best findings for the week. If you want to support my work or join our SWLW community in Slack - scroll down to the bottom of the email to see how.
 

This Week's Favorite

​​How Do You Deal With Managers/Customers Questioning Your Estimates? (HN Discussion)
7 minutes read.

A wonderful discussion on how to show empathy and improve our ability to respond to estimations feedback (i.e. “why so much?“). It requires the right level of maturity we should expect from our teammates. The discussion brings up many tools to consider and experiment. After all, that feedback is in place to verify the right decision can be made (understand impact vs. effort).

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Culture

VCs Adding Value to Portfolio Companies
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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Why We Transitioned From Sprints to Basecamp’s “Shape Up” Methodology
8 minutes read.

"It wasn’t as simple as picking Shape Up off the shelf and running with it. We had many radical candor conversations about what was working, what wasn’t, what we’ve learned, and what’s ideal for us as a team. Remember, not every process is for every team — you need to understand what does and doesn’t work best for your specific team. What are your team’s strengths? What do you need to get better at? Reflection every few weeks is key to growth." -- Shape Up is an excellent book with many interesting concepts worth knowing, even if you don't plan to use it. I like how Cory Torres Bishop shares their process to experiment with it, while focusing on the value they seek to get as a team and deliver to their customers.

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The Structure and Process Fallacy
3 minutes read.

"No organisation structure can compensate for a poor Developer Experience." -- Nick Tune is right to say that org structure won't save you. The odds of a big re-org or launching a new process helping you are getting lower if it comes top-down with little context and expectations setting between the different groups.

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The Paradox of Production Alerts (Slides)
9 minutes read.

This deck by Charity Majors should be required reading to anyone building software. Share it with your teammates and discuss what's worth adopting (e.g., SLO-based alerts versus symptom-based alerts) to improve the quality of your systems and products.

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Peopleware

A Readme for Staff Engineers
5 minutes read.

"The more you progress on your career, the harder it is to find role models and mentors." -- Benjamin Baumann shares resources worth knowing and joining to feel less lonely as a Staff+ engineer.

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Been Thinking a Lot About Peak Performance, Genuine Excellence, and What Really Matters for It. Here Are 19 Habits and Principles, All Based on Years of Research, Writing, and Coaching (Thread)
4 minutes read.

"Learn to Have Fun While Working Hard. If you aren’t having fun along the way then you probably won’t last very long. Not every day has to be enjoyable, the totality of the process ought to be meaningful and fulfilling, and the more you can smile the better." -- Reading Brad Stulberg's principles made me think about what I believe is true for myself. This one captures it well, similar to Naval's framing: "Do What Feels Like Play To You, But Work To Others."

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Building Friend Catchers
5 minutes read.

Making friends on the internet and at work requires putting yourself out there. Sharing some cool projects you've made or documents with interesting ideas can attract like-minded people. Same for creating a workshop on a topic you know well and inviting your teammates so they'll get to know you a bit better and feel more comfortable consulting with you about it.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@jaltma: People tend to either bring positive energy to people around them at work, or require energy from others to stay positive. Aside from specific skills, one of the things founders are desperately looking for is people who can help shoulder the positive energy burden with them.

@jspujji: When something is NOT performing, look to SUBTRACT from it vs add to it



p.s. if you're interested in joining SWLW's Slack channel, simply reply to this email and let me know. If you're leading a team, consider writing your Manager README (it's free) or getting my e-book and interviews Leading Snowflakes: The New Engineering Manager's Handbook. You can also support me by becoming a SWLW Patron. Thank you ❤️




Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.