SWLW #439: Writing blog posts as a method of documentation, Asynchronous working in 2021, 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

​​Adding Is Favoured Over Subtracting in Problem Solving
6 minutes read.

"[P]articipants offered so few subtractive solutions is not because they didn’t recognize the value of those solutions, but because they failed to consider them" -- This post should be shared with all of your Product Managers and other leaders in your organization. The biggest takeaway is to remind people that taking things out is a possibility, and can be even better than adding something on top of what you have now. Sounds trivial, but it's not.

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

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Culture

Styling With Javascript
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face, even in this difficult time.

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Blogumentation - Writing Blog Posts as a Method of Documentation
4 minutes read.

"Scott mentions how he receives questions via email fairly regularly. Interestingly, instead of replying to the email directly he instead writes a blog post and then replies to the email with a link to the post. Scott goes on to describe how he is constantly aware of the number of keypresses he has left in his life and therefore has taken the approach to not want to waste a single one of them." -- I love this idea. It may help others, and it will help future-you gain some perspective on how you've grown.

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


Treat Your Onboarding Process Like Your Build System
5 minutes read.

I like this framing of treating our onboarding system with the same care and attention as our build system. Asking new members to update the documentation (or at least mention others to point areas worth improving) is critical. So does provide feedback in writing to the hiring manager - was it good? Did it feel effective and interesting? What can be done to improve it?

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


“Asynchronous” Working in 2021
4 minutes read.

James Beshara's experiments (and Sahils' the co-founder of Gumroad) might be a bit too far for most of us. I know it is the case for me. That being said, it's helpful to ask hard questions and learn about different answers that would come naturally to me. What can you experiment with? What would be interesting to adopt?

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

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Peopleware

Director to VP Engineering: What Is Expected and How to Prepare?
5 minutes read.

Tao Wang will give you a good glimpse into the challenges faced when moving to a VP level. This position can often feel lonely, so find people inside the organization you can be vulnerable around. Find other people outside of your organization who serve in a similar role, to share your dilemmas and learn how they lead their teams.

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


I've Decided I'm Not Starting Another Startup. How to Tell When You're Working on the Wrong Thing. (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Julian Shapiro's thought process and writing are always fantastic (if you haven't checked his essays on his blog, do it). You don't have to quit everything or open a startup to do what you want to achieve.

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


The Feynman Technique Can Help You Remember Everything You Read
5 minutes read.

Eva Keiffenheim will make you stop and think about what you've learned from the past few books, posts or lectures: "A person who reads without pausing to think and reflect won’t remember nor apply anything they read." Information is cheap. Applied knowledge is leverage.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@agazdecki: Most startups would probably grow faster if they just held 80% less meetings.

@swyx: Free Management Idea: (1) At all hands, ask every person to “draw the company”. not org chart: draw how the company fits/works/grows/whatever. intentionally open ended. (2) pair people up and exchange drawings. (3) LISTEN



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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.