SWLW #431: When executives break, Your engineering team is (probably) too big, and more.

Heya,

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

​​When Executives Break
8 minutes read.

Elad Gil wrote a post I think every VP-level and C-level should read and think about when measuring their performance. It can serve you as a good checklist to see where you excel and where you fall short. If you're unsure, use it to collect feedback from your peers, teammates, and direct manager. They can help you with your blindspots or guide you with ideas to push forward the challenges you're facing today.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.

Product [sponsored]

Effective Feature Management by O'Reilly
Learn how you can use feature flags to reduce risk, iterate faster, and gain more control in your dev cycles with this book written by LaunchDarkly CTO/Co-founder, John Kodamul.

 Promote your product on SWLW and reach over 26,650 leaders 

Culture

Isn't This the Most Beautiful Thing.
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face, even in this difficult time. What an amazing achievement by NASA.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


A Guide to Better Meetings
5 minutes read.

"An easy way to kill a software engineer’s productivity is to have their calendar look like Swiss Cheese, the kind with holes in it" -- Meetings are a tool to provide context or build momentum, and when done right, they can give a lot of value. Dick Brouwer shares tips you and your team can benefit from.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


For @Codecademy's First 4yrs, We Were in the Newspaper Every Wk. Those Weeks, We Made $0. The Past 4 Years, We've Been Out of the Headlines. Now, We've Raised $40m, Our First Raise in ~4yrs. How'd We Go From the Center of the Hype Cycle to the Brink of Bankruptcy and Back? Read On... (Thread)
3 minutes read.

Zach Sims (CEO of Codecademy) shares the journey of building a company, with the ups & downs that can break you or make you stronger: "Going from the center of attention to the brink of bankruptcy was a rude awakening. [...] we learned an important lesson: hype doesn't pay the bills." -- it's a good short reminder that we all struggle. It's hard. Surround yourself with people who will say things as they are and keep you honest, yet encourage you to push through it.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


Your Engineering Team Is (probably) Too Big
5 minutes read.

I wrote before that I believe headcount is a vanity metric - it makes us feel good when we grow quickly ("we're doubling our team!") without appreciating the cost of the complexity we add. David Adams will help you think about when to grow and how to approach it.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.

Jobs [sponsored]

Ruby on Rails Tech Lead @ Nebulab (Remote)
Join our distributed team and build high-volume eCommerce applications in a workplace made by developers for developers.
 

 Looking to hire for your team? Promote your open positions on SWLW! 

Peopleware

FRAMEWORKS V0.2: Core Concepts Worth Knowing
24 minutes read.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, and skim through Chris Paik's notes. Delve deeper into areas you care about now and keep the rest for another day.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


The COMPOSE Framework for Writing
4 minutes read.

Writing is still an undervalued skill in our profession. The COMPOSE method will help you practice and deliver the next time you write an email, summarize a production incident, or building a case for a new initiative you want to promote.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


Awesome CTO
4 minutes read.

A curated and opinionated list of resources for CTOs, with the emphasis on startups, by Dima Kuchin. I'm sure you'll find a few great resources there as I did.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.

And finally, inspiring tweets...

@awilkinson: “Work will settle down soon” —Me, every day for the past 15 years

@jimmpierce: The more you complain, the less you value your time.



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 and my work by becoming a SWLW Patron. Thank you ❤️




Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.