SWLW #467: Ratings as Incentives, Why the Status Quo is so hard to change in Engineering Teams, and more.

Heya,

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

This Week's Favorite

​​Why the Status Quo Is So Hard to Change in Engineering Teams
6 minutes read.

Antoine Boulanger wrote one of my favorite posts this year. It should be a must-read by everyone on the team (existing and new employees), so you can shift their mindset into proactively improving the organization. Leadership, both technical and managerial, should spot "Learned Helplessness" and set up a plan to explicitly acknowledge those and consult with the team for ways to mitigate that over time (capture, track & report).

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

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Culture

Still Looking for the Feature That Will Save My Startup
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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Ratings as Incentives
4 minutes read.

"In practice, your rating in this system is not a rating of your work performance, it is a rating of your manager’s storytelling in these calibration meetings." -- Kent Beck will get you to think about how you run Feedback (or Performance) Reviews today and the incentive structure people have to do the right things. Incentives design is a tough problem, so you shouldn't seek easy or quick solutions.

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Coordination Headwind: How Organizations Are Like Slime Molds (Slides)
9 minutes read.

"Look for a way to decouple things as much as possible. Instead of having everything perfect today, aim for eventual convergence." -- Great presentation on how companies scale and lose their ability to innovate and run faster, and what you can do about it. Read this deck and make sure to read "Why The Status Quo Is So Hard To Change In Engineering Teams" I've shared this week as well. People will copy the behavior of others around them, so make sure you stay positive and push in the right direction. Iterate on how you solve the problem and communicate on what works and what you should do differently.

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Share it via Twitter or email.


Cut Out Time Estimates on Roadmaps: Get Into a Product Delivery Rhythm
5 minutes read.

Megan Gleason shares interesting ideas they practice that might be relevant for your team as well. All companies struggle to find the right usage of shared communication at different levels of abstractions. Try investing more time into "What do you feel is missing?" with your teammates and customers. Aim to provide the maximum context and visibility with the minimal process tax.

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Peopleware

Stop Looking for Mentors
3 minutes read.

"Instead of looking for a mentor, just find somebody who can answer some questions you have. Then, if you think they can answer some more, ask them again. In reality, a mentor is mostly just somebody that answers questions more than once. That’s it. It’s not cinematic." -- Love it. Perfect framing. It's okay to call that person your mentor, if the two of you think it's the right way to define the relationship. Don't let the lack of an official mentor hold you back from asking people some questions, and then again.

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


Following the Right People Is the Most Underrated Growth Hack in the World. Here Are 20 Gems That You Wished You Followed Earlier (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Twitter is still an undervalued tool for Knowledge Workers. Aadit Sheth will give you some good recommendations for who to follow, why, and one thread to "make an intro" with their thoughts. Follow the right people (and change over time as your interest changes) to be inspired and educated. If you want to use my approach, google "How to Find Growth Material & Learn x2 Faster" to see my deck and video (Hebrew).

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Share it via Twitter or email.


SimSWE 4: Wants, Needs, and Chasm-Crossing
14 minutes read.

Important business context for leaders. Read it to gain some context for judging the business you're part of: "Needs are AND. Wants are OR. A product must satisfy all your needs. It can get away with satisfying only one want, if you want it badly enough."

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

@balajis: You need a limiting principle. Otherwise too much is never enough.

@aaditsh: People have more control over their time than they think. It’s a privilege that most people don’t realize they have.



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.