SWLW #548: How to update your beliefs systematically, Thriving in chaos, and more.

Heya,

As always, below you can read my best findings for the week.
 

This Week's Favorite

You Only Get 3 Metrics - Which Ones Would You Pick?
9 minutes read.

Phil Venables covers the metrics worth paying attention to and improving to build a secure and robust company. Every software company needs to track these three metrics and state the targets they set each year depending on their maturity level.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Culture

Midjourney Interpreting "Enterprise Product"
1 minute read.

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

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Engineering Levels: A Simple Framework for Startups
10 minutes read.

Marcelo Wiermann has a handy framework you can copy and adjust in your company if you don't have a Career Ladder yet. The "Level Scopes" diagram is very helpful in understanding the level of impact (thus complexity and people involved) the individual will create

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Starting a Business Can Be Painful. Here Are 20+ Learnings About Entrepreneurship I Wish I Knew Sooner (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Jesse Pujji with powerful tips for entrepreneurs. Some of my favorites: "Constantly ask, What does great look like? for people, product, processes, and everything else. Your biggest threat (especially as a first-time entrepreneur) is not knowing this and not being able to identify it" and "Remember and remind yourself that you chose this path. Don't feel bad for yourself and don't EVER expect people to feel bad for you."

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Manage Process Before People
4 minutes read.

"If you want to run a company that's light on full-time managers, you have to focus on managing processes before people. The traditional paradigm of a reporting manager that's constantly following up with their reports, conducting daily stand-up meetings, weekly 1-1s, and all other forms of intensive supervision, needs to be (mostly) replaced with an asynchronous, self-managing paradigm instead." -- DHH provides tips if you want to build a different type of company or operate in a certain way in a specific phase of the company. I followed a similar path when the company I worked for had less than 20 engineers and adopted the process as we grew larger. It all starts with what you're trying to optimize for, the talent you seek to attract and retain, and then the process to help you execute that.

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Peopleware

Thriving in Chaos: Essential Qualities for Tech Managers Navigating the Realm of the Unknown
7 minutes read.

Idan Ptichi covers four qualities worth practicing to become an effective technical leader: (1) Exceptional flexibility, (2) Effective communication skills, (3) Trustworthiness as a tech partner, (4) Highly critical thinking. If you want to increase your impact in the organization and be able to influence more areas, consider which of these qualities you want to improve in the next 6-12 months. Draft the challenges you have that you can use as a way to practice these, and align with the relevant manager(s) to get their support.

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How to Incorporate Meeting Prep Into Your Daily Work Routine (Video)
1 minute read.

Shreyas Doshi with a short and helpful video on preparing (early morning) for your meetings during the day. Attending meetings with an agenda on your side is essential to get more out of the meeting and drive others to act the same.

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How to Update Your Beliefs Systematically - Bayes’ Theorem (Video)
9 minutes read.

Understanding that Bayes' Theorem is iterative - we need multiple experimentations to understand the world better - is vital in using this tool effectively.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@hubermanlab: The key to overcoming procrastination is to do something *more* unpleasant than the thing you are procrastinating about. What you choose is subjective but the reason it rebounds you to a heightened state of motivation is due to dopamine-dynamics (biology). Which is why it works.

@asmartbear: A feature should either THRILL ≥15% of customers or be USEFUL to ≥60%. Amazing how many are neither. You don't have time for those.



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.