SWLW #397: How to overcome dread tasks, Do you evaluate for written communication in your hiring process, and more...

I hope that you and your family are doing well, and you are able to find a new rhythm in this hard situation.

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

This Week's Favorite

​​How to Overcome Dread Tasks
4 minutes read.

We all have these tasks that we need to deal with, reminding us how much energy management is critical for productive days: "The sensation of thinking of a task can be pleasant or painful. This is because your brain is always predicting how rewarding any future scenario will be" -- I'd add one more tip to the list - find someone who can do these tasks with you or at least review your work. Peer pressure is powerful.

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Culture

In Brazil This Is a Common Practice by the Guy Who Installs Your Protection Net. How Many Software Engineers Would Show the Same Level of Confidence Towards Their Code? Test Until Boredom Replaces Fear
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face, even in this difficult time. After you're done smiling, seriously consider this question. Do we need more skin in the game to build better products and teams?

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A Guide to Making Better Decisions
4 minutes read.

Villi Iltchev with helpful tips to improve the way you make decisions or teach others how to improve their choices. I'd always start with "Be clear what you are NOT going to do" as it frees your mind (and others) from holding into edge-cases that are unimportant.

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With More Remote-First Orgs, Do You Evaluate for Written Communication in Your Hiring Process, and if So, How? (Thread)
3 minutes read.

Will Larson started a thread that had me pause and think about our hiring process. In this environment where WFH is becoming a standard (even if partial), written communication should be tested as part of the hiring process. It was remarkable to see how Automattic approach it: "At Automattic, at least for developer roles, you don’t usually hear anyone’s voice until after you’re hired. Interview, code test, trial — it’s all text."

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Can You Really Measure Individual Developer Productivity?
7 minutes read.

I enjoyed reading the detailed answer by Gergely Orosz and agree with every nuance he points to. There are easy things to measure, such as SLA you commit to (in contracts), but I find that to build a good team you have to align with the business (management level) in terms of their expectations: how success would look like? How much of it can engineering control? How would a failure due to engineering look like? We should try to learn each others' language and explicitly set expectations from each other early on. This way, you can cap your downsides (failures) and aim for the upsides.

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Peopleware

One Thing That Great Leaders Understand
4 minutes read.

Mark Suster shares helpful observations that can help you understand the career ladder of management. My favorite takeaways were: "Ultimately leadership is about knowing how to get the most out of a team. This not only involves division of responsibilities but also knowing when it’s time to change or add team members." and "Great leaders know how to attract & retain great managers and know they must trust them to accomplish the team’s goals."

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Unusual Applications of Spaced Repetition Memory Systems
4 minutes read.

Learning how to learn is a superpower. Taking notes and thinking of different ways to use Spaced Repetition can help be compounded interest for your brain.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@Julian: I just came across the 70/10/80 Principle of delegation: "Find someone who can do what you do at 70% the success rate. Teach them the extra 10% and be okay with 80%."

@naval: I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I think and feel.



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Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.