Good piece, this is indeed essential in managing others. If they can't trust you then fear will ensue.
Yes, seen this kind of imprecise requests go wrong fairly quickly more than once. It requires constant awareness though, on both sides of each request. This can be taxing, so no wonder we often drop the ball.
Interesting taxonomy on how to request things from people. Lot's to mull over in there.
Definitely an excellent list to have in mind as soon as you get to engineering management. The four areas listed are the most important.
Good advices. Keep some slack, have an idea of your energy level, that's what impacts your capacity. Time is a given you can't do much with it.
Good starting point before really exploring this field deeper. Especially important here is the last section on how to use them properly. Be cautious, keep people well-being in mind at all time.
Very good review of the McKinsey paper about developer productivity. It not only highlights all the problems with it, it also makes suggestions to make a better paper next time.
Definitely this, I too often see people trying to just power through. Being responsible of something doesn't mean you do it all alone, on the contrary. If you're struggling with it look for help, it can take many forms including coaching.
Interestingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) most of the factors this research found impactful are not technical. So mind the social constructs of your organization.
Lots of food for thought in here. I really appreciate how Kent Beck's thinking keeps evolving. This Explore, Expand, Extract curve is indeed a good way to frame things. It is a good base to know what to put in place or not.
This is indeed an interesting scale to keep in mind. Teams shouldn't get too big, or too small.
Ever wondered what the job of CTO encompasses? This article does a good job at it. It's especially nice that it's split based on company size. Indeed, the role can change dramatically depending on how big an organization is.
This is a sound advice. In other words, don't commit too early, only when you got enough information. Of course monitor to make sure you don't miss said information.
Indeed, these confusions are widespread. Even worse, they generally lead you away from actual productivity.
A good reminder that you better measure the right thing... otherwise you might consider someone as unproductive while he has in fact a large impact.
I'd take the more stack related side of this article with a pinch of salt. It seems a bit too specific to the company behind the story. The rest of the article rings true and spot on though.
And now the part two, with more warnings about what you measure. Also proposes a few ideas toward the end.
Excellent piece. Be careful what you measure. If you measure the wrong things people will game the system.
An old one but since I'm aware of companies still doing their performance reviews this way... Don't fall for it, use a more humane process whenever you can.
Lots of good advices for dealing with a conflict. Choosing the right words and the right time matter. Not easy to apply but worth trying.