SWLW #625: Finding your personal metrics, Using language to change how we think, and more.

Like always, sharing my best findings for the week.  

 

This Week's Favorite

Finding Your Personal Metrics
4 minutes read.

Conor Dewey shares his framework for understanding how he wants to live life with high agency: "when you step foot in the real world, there is ambiguity everywhere. Sure, you can focus on your job and extend the "roadmap" to promotions and career growth. But for most of us, that will only fulfill you for so long. When you reach a certain point, you take a step back from the path you're on, remove your blinders, and see all the ambiguity out there."

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Culture

Preparing to Play "Joker"
1 minute read.

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

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Using Language to Change How We Think
23 minutes read.

Teresa Huang shares an excellent summary and takeaways from Marty Cagan's Transformed book. The captured "dimensions" and "concepts" can help you look at your organization and see where to focus next.

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Brian Chesky on How to Hire
3 minutes read.

"Present the real challenges that will turn off mediocre people but turn on great people." -- Ben Lang shares some of the methods and beliefs that Brian Chesky (CEO of Airbnb) uses to attract and close talent.

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Peopleware

Why Your Product Idea Sounds Too Complicated
5 minutes read.

"Show your product to target customers. Ask them: "How would you describe this to someone else?" Bite your tongue and listen - you'll soon learn some simple truths. [...] When it's easier to describe what you do, it's more memorable. It spreads faster. Your onboarding gets more efficient, and your customer acquisition gets cheaper. The hardest part about this for a lot of product builders is simply that the ego wants to be different. " -- so simple yet so powerful. Are you optimizing for success or your ego?

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Real Ways to Maintain Your Technical Edge as an Engineering Manager
5 minutes read.

Alex Ponomarev with excellent advice on changing your mindset and habits as an Engineering Manager who wants to stay technical. My advice is to move from "How to do something with X" to be able to explain and reason about "How X is working?" which should help you understand when the proper usage for it is and the tradeoffs behind it.

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My Questions for Prospective Employers (Director/VP Roles)
4 minutes read.

When you look for a new role, it's important to ask questions to create clarity not only on expectations but also on the challenges and environment you're entering. Jacob Kaplan-Moss shares great questions you should bookmark.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@readswithravi: “Failure is irrelevant unless it is catastrophic.” — @elonmusk

@tobi: Make great software that people actually want



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.