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Agile at 20: The Failed Rebellion
Every software team says they do Agile and yet almost nobody is Agile. How did we get to this point? Where do we go from here?
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The Skill of Org Design
Building effective organisations is a remarkably useful, if rare, skill. This is what it looks like, what it consists of, and how to tell if someone has it.
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Writing is networking for introverts
Networking is painful, and I’m suspicious of anyone who claims to enjoy it. Unfortunately for me, networking is effective.
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My simple GitHub project went viral
I made a simple project which got spread in various tech communities and social media. Github featured it in 'Trending repositories of day' section
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Are daily standups hurting your team?
What software developers can learn from Ford and GM
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Google Summer of Code in 2022 – No longer limited to students
Over the course of GSoC’s 17 years, open source has grown and evolved, and we’ve realized that the program needs to evolve as well. With that in mind,
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Planning and estimating large-scale software projects
This weekend I was talking with a friend about how I'd planned and estimated a huge software project in one of my previous jobs. By that I mean not something which can be done by a single team in a sprint or two, but something which requires several teams, across several quarters of effort, involving many other…
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New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
In the United Kingdom, most people don’t feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. For two-thirds of the population, talking politics sincerely, on the job, is uncomfortable. People who hold certain, commonplace views, stay silent believing that expressing those views will carry penalty not reward. These…
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Some reasons to work on productivity and velocity
A common topic of discussion among my close friends is where the bottlenecks are in our productivity and how we can execute more quickly. This is very different from what I see in my extended social circles, where people commonly say that velocity doesn't matter . In online discussions about this, I frequently see…
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A Year at Google Brain (2020)
Reflections from my time at Google Brain, and why I left for a PhD.
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Every engineer should do a stint in consulting
I will die on this hill.
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OKRs masquerade as strategy
Desire is not a Strategy
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Are software engineering “best practices” just developer preferences?
My housemate the other day asked me something to the effect of “How can Software Engineers call themselves engineers when there’s no rules, governing bodies, or anything to stipulate what true Software Engineering is?”
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The mortifying ordeal of pairing all day
I had to confront a lot of my fears about myself, sometimes every day. I had to learn to show someone else all the things I didn’t know, my limitations as a human and a software engineer.
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They don't even know the fundamentals
Ah yes, the fundamentals or endless list of things that everybody working in the field ought to know. Atomicity, something, something, Durability? To avoid any future embarrassments I made sure to dust off my Wild Hog book 1 and re-read the section on ACID. Here’s an excerpt directly from the book:
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Why I did not go to jail (2014)
A lot of people have been asking me what my upcoming book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, will be like. Here’s a piece that I wrote for the book that did not make the cut. I still think it’s a pretty good story and gives you a flavor. I just tell the truth so...
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Commenting vs. Making
issue no. 0011
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Move fast, but understand the problem first
Software engineer, etc etc
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How to deliver constructive feedback in difficult situations (2019)
“We are dangerous when we are not conscious of our responsibility for how we behave, think, and feel.”―Marshall Rosenberg, As a founder, my biggest regrets revolve around not having difficu…
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Engineers should invest in decision-making skills early
Reforge drives team performance, with the most actionable learning from vetted operators that your team will actually use and apply.
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I Shipped, Therefore I Am
“Who are you and why are you here?” –Dave Cutler (DaveC)
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Is 40 the New 60?
Here's a funny story: I've been using and teaching Python for over 20 years, and designed its built-in set module, but nobody would hire me as a Python programmer when I was laid off by RStudio in February. I was "too senior" for every developer role I applied for, even when the first paragraph of my cover letter said…
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Management by metrics leads us astray
Let’s say my goal this year is to get to 10k monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
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Programmers, teach non-geeks the true cost of interruptions (2014)
Interruptions are one of the biggest sources of inefficiency for programmers. Now, to be fair, they’re probably a big source of inefficiency for everyone, but relatively speaking, they’re worse for programmers. To understand what I mean, let’s take someone whose job is in sales. A lot of the day is probably spent on…