SWLW #461: How big tech runs tech projects , Building emotional capital, and more.

Heya,

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

This Week's Favorite

​​Speed! Nuance, and Learning.
4 minutes read.

"Building a successful organization is a mix of doing new/novel things, old things, and very old things. I think we usually spend too much time talking about the new and novel as if it’s a silver bullet. Doing the old and very old things consistently and well is overlooked." -- The number of times I said "exactly!" when reading Cliff Hazell's post is almost 1:1 to the number of sentences he wrote.

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Culture

Only in California
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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How Big Tech Runs Tech Projects and the Curious Absence of Scrum
13 minutes read.

Interesting data and observations from Gergely Orosz on how companies execute projects, structure their teams (roles & responsibilities), and the process they use. It's based on about 100 samples, yet Gergely adds a lot of value around it that you can take with you to look at what works for your company and what you should consider experimenting with.

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Since Time Immemorial, When a CEO Asks a PM at Product Review, “what Do You Need to 10X Users/Revenue?”, “what Will Make You Go Faster?”, Etc the PM Steadfastly Responds “We Need [N] More Engineers”. The Eng Mgr Nods Approvingly. A Story Thread, With Some Hard Truths to Swallow (Thread)
5 minutes read.

This thread is packed with so many gems by the insightful Shreyas Doshi. Read it, then read again, then share it internally and discuss. Can you relate?

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Gateway Teams: First Experiences of Your Organization Matter
4 minutes read.

I've been reading Michael Feathers's post as a way to measure a team's strength. All teams should be great candidates to Michael's definition of "Gateway teams" regarding their standards. If it's not the case, then consider this approach for new engineers but also for veterans. They can switch teams for a few months and then go back to share their lessons learned.

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Peopleware

Crypto Bezos: What Would Bezos Build if He Were Starting Out Today?
12 minutes read.

Even if you have minimal context into Crypto or Web3 latest buzzwords, this is a great thinking piece by Packy McCormick on building a business: "There are a lot of crypto projects that are built as crypto projects, for crypto people. [...] Crypto Bezos, on the other hand, would build products that are better for the regular customer than anything they have access to today."

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How to Build Great Relationships in Business & Life (Thread)
4 minutes read.

"[...] who could give more to the project, to the relationship, to each other. In this model - the pie starts small, but gets bigger. Both people keep trying to make the pie bigger, and put bigger slices on each others plates." -- Shaan Puri with a good reminder that relationships don't need to be a zero-sum game. You should choose your partners and friends wisely and set expectations early on. Don't be afraid to walk away.

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Building Emotional Capital
7 minutes read.

"I learned early on when I was working on my first startup that poor emotional health kills more startups than competition or market forces do, and I was surprised by how under-discussed this was." -- I enjoyed this interview with Sari Azout, focusing on building a sustainable business she feels proud about.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@jenheemstra: Having "high standards" is not an excuse to treat people poorly. Some of the kindest people I know have high standards. The difference is that they encourage others to rise to their best rather than tearing them down when they fall short.

@PicardTips: Maintenance of existing systems is just as important as building new capabilities.



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.