/Leadership

Ask For Advice, Not Permission

- Andrew Bosworth tl;dr: From the CTO at Meta: "One of the most common anti-patterns I see that can create conflict in an otherwise collaborative environment is people asking for permission instead of advice. This is such an insidious practice that it not only sounds reasonable, it actually sounds like the right thing to do: “Hey, I was thinking about doing X, would you be on board with that?”" Andrew argues that the problem with asking for permission is that you’re implicitly asking someone else to take some responsibility for your decision while asking for advice creates advocates for your idea but doesn't saddle them with responsibility.

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6 Tiny Wording Tweaks To Level Up Your Communication As A Software Engineer

- Jordan Cutler tl;dr: (1) Use “Would you be open to” instead of “Can you” when you want to seem less commanding but still lead to a “yes.” (2) Add “because” to your reasoning or request to strengthen it. (3) Use “can we” instead of “can you” to be more collaborative, particularly in code reviews. (4) Use “What do you think” to assert a suggestion but still leave it open for discussion. (5) Use “It seems like” when the conversation is at a stalemate and you want to call it out directly. Many times this breaks the stalemate. (6) Change the order of your “but” to negate the part you actually want to negate.

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Navigators

- Will Larson tl;dr: Will had to solve a common problem — how to make technical decision within a large organization of over 400 engineers. He established Navigators, individuals accountable for these decisions in their area of expertise who report directly to the CTO. (1) Each major area of the business has one Navigator, who is an active contributor to the software written. (2) There is exactly one Navigator for a given area; Navigators do not overlap. (3) Each Navigator is accountable for the technical decisions made in their area. This includes interpreting organizational strategy and applying it to their context. Will elaborates on the roll here. 

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OKRs In Software Engineering

- Abi Noda tl;dr: OKR maturity was found to be positively correlated with the following: (1) Having a unified mission as a team. This is intuitive: a unified mission brings alignment, and this alignment may drive people to set better OKRs as it is clear what they’re working toward. (2) Overall happiness at the company. This aligns with the finding from previous research that progressing towards a meaningful goal is a top motivator for employees. (3) Working remotely. “We hypothesize this is because teams who do not have regular face time and in person meetings with leadership need to be more clear on what they are doing, how it relates to the org, and have better ability to share back their progress.”

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Scaling Standards And Community In Your Organization

- Nick Penston tl;dr: Nick discusses (1) How to scale adoption of engineering best practices and organizational standards. (2) How to enable sustainable communities around common interests. (3) The power of a culture founded in continuous learning and innovation. "A key tenant to this model is to decentralize the ownership of standards and best practices to small groups focused on specific focus areas of a problem space. Your engineers and technical staff drive this process which facilitates the sharing of skills, knowledge, and measures of success."

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How To Build Trust

- Jacob Kaplan-Moss tl;dr: "These are all going to be fairly high-level, just skimming the surface – I could probably write a full post for each point, but will keep them brief to avoid making this article into a book." Jacob elaborates on the following: (1) Act consistently. (2) Communicate clearly and transparently. (3) Be reliable. (4) Set and respect boundaries. (5) Use role power sparingly. (6) Give feedback. (7) Give credit, take blame. (8) Delegate effectively. (9) Sponsor and coach. (10) Respect confidentiality but be clear about limits. (11) Ask for permission to give feedback, suggestions. 

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How To Boss Without Being Bossy

- Jeff Wofford tl;dr: "Leaders command people. That’s kind of what a leader is: someone with the authority to direct the actions of others. But people don’t often appreciate being commanded. When you step into leadership you face this challenge: how do you direct the members of your team without offending them? How do you become a good boss, but not be “bossy”?" Jeff maps clarity and harshness to show how various phrases compare. 

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Taming Complexity With Reversibility

- Kent Beck tl;dr: As a system scales, whether it is a manufacturing plant or a service like ours, the enemy is complexity. If you don't confront complexity in some way, it will eat you. However, complexity isn't a blob monster, it has four distinct heads: (1) States: When there are many elements in the system and each can be in one of a large number of states, then figuring out what is going on and what you should do about it grows impossible. (2) Interdependencies: When each element in the system can affect each other element in unpredictable ways, it's easy to induce harmonics and other non-linear responses, driving the system out of control. (3) Uncertainty: When outside stresses on the system are unpredictable, the system never settles down to an equilibrium. (4) Irreversibility: When the effects of decisions can't be predicted and they can't be easily undone, decisions grow prohibitively expensive.

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Traits I Value

- Andrew Bosworth tl;dr: 15 traits valued by the CTO at Meta: (1) Ownership: Valuing individuals who take full responsibility for their tasks, allowing others to trust that these tasks will be handled competently without constant oversight. (2) Rigor: Preferring team members who think thoroughly and exhaustively, understanding all alternatives, assumptions, and limitations to ensure well-informed decision-making. (3) Bias for Action: Appreciating those who recognize the cost of gathering information and the cost of delay, and who act decisively to maintain progress.

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The 100 Best Bits Of Advice From 10 Years Of First Round Review

tl;dr: "End every meeting or conversation with the feeling and optimism you’d like to have at the start of your next conversation with the person. If you envision running into this person again and how you want that to go, it’ll undoubtedly influence how you navigate a present conversation — usually for the better. Chris Fralic on how to become insanely well-connected."

featured in #466