SWLW #583: Speaking for Hackers, How to fix broken teams, and more.

Like always, sharing my best findings for the week.

 

This Week's Favorite

Speaking for Hackers
5 minutes read.

Brilliant execution by Ben Orenstein. The copywriting and tips are golden. This is how you deliver a beautiful side project that produces a ton of value for the audience, with the right product mindset to build it to stick out. I'm considering printing the section "Keeping your audience's attention" above my desk as a great reminder, as it's useful for any form of communication.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Culture

Frontend Developers on a Monday Getting Ready to Change the Color of a Button
1 minute read.

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

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How to Fix Broken Teams
5 minutes read.

This post covers a healthy framework to consider when dealing with a broken team that you must revive and put on track again: "Luckily, as ridiculously bad as situations can seem, most teams break in very similar ways. And, even more luckily, most teams can be fixed in similar ways." This advice is critical for the leader in charge of making the change: "Don’t ever lose your cool. Ever. If you let negative teammates break your cool, you lose, full stop. All it takes is one break in your composure to give people the fodder to show that you are not to be trusted. Remember that in almost every situation, you can just say “I’ll think about it and get back to you,” or say nothing."

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Does the Product Get Better Over Time? (And How to Assess That)
3 minutes read.

Nikhil Basu Trivedi covers the questions and data to understand and assess the quality of the product over time. Given that we often look at our product as if it's our masterpiece (dare I say, our baby?), Nikhil's suggestions are a healthy way to get a balanced perspective. This is one of the best ways I believe to see the product's value over time: "If the product’s actually getting better over time, it should show up in quantitative data, such as newer cohorts retaining better than older cohorts, and, in general, net retention growing over time."

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Technical Skills Are Overrated. Focus on Your Attitude.
4 minutes read.

When hiring someone, you take a bet on their growth rate and the impact they'll bring on their surrounding. Dave Anderson with an important reminder on hiring for potential (self-learners with proven records) and energy makers: "When we did our debrief at the end of the interview, every interviewer had the same impression. Chen was below the bar on all technical measures (design, coding, algorithms). On the other hand, he was enthusiastic, energetic, self-critical about his technical gaps, and excited to hear constructive feedback, and he demonstrated a drive to improve himself."

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Peopleware

Manage Like an Engineer
5 minutes read.

"Management Decision Records" is an excellent concept to leverage (a la ADR) for future reasoning on managerial decisions made. Ben Balter shares so many gems worth sharing with Engineering Managers you know: "Working like an engineer forces you to work more transparently than you would traditionally as a manager."

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I'm Convinced That There Is One Skill That Separates Truly Intelligent People From Those That Aren't: Listening. (Thread)
3 minutes read.

Blake Burge captures his takeaways from Rick Rubin on being a great listener, or as Rick puts it - "being a recorder" - "When someone says something you disagree with, rather than being triggered, frustrated, or defensive, why not dig deeper into how they came to that opinion? While different than your own, that doesn't inherently mean they're wrong. It seems as though at some level we've lost the ability to have civil discourse. To disagree and still coexist. It doesn't make sense to me and I think––with a little effort––we can change (and just might learn something from each other along the way.)"

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@RyanHoliday: The secret to success in almost all fields is large, uninterrupted blocks of focused time.

@blakeaburge: Discipline can be boiled down to the ability to ignore the voice in your head that says: “I’ll do it tomorrow.”



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.