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October 18 · Issue #62 · View online
Level Up delivers a curated newsletter for leaders in tech. A project by https://patkua.com. Ideal for busy people such as Tech Leads, Engineering Managers, VPs of Engineering, CTOs and more.
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Focus on the opportunities, not the pain Events like COVID-19 force change upon us, whether or not we want it or not. All types of change bring with it advantages and disadvantages. Forced working from home may bring more focused time but at the cost of increased loneliness. We can use this situation to understand how to navigate a world of constant change, particularly change you cannot control. Team members may find it healthy to complain about change. Complaining often feels cathartic as people feel listened to. After some time though, complaining about pain endlessly results in a demotivating downward spiral. As a leader, first acknowledge the change, recognise its impact (both positive and negative) but then focus on the opportunities. Help your team reconnect with improvements or benefits they may not see, or they may need help taking advantage of. I hope you enjoy this week’s content. If you find it useful, please forward to someone else and send me feedback. Stay safe and healthy 🙏
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Change brings advantages and disadvantanges. Focus on the opportunities.
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Anyone Can Be a Leader
Reading time: 4mins Break the misconception that you need permission to lead. In this article we look at ways that anyone can be a leader.
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What is expected of a Engineering Manager?
Reading time: 9mins Every organization has its own way of working and your mileage may vary. Rodrigo Flores (@rlmflores) shares three areas to focus on in an Engineering Manager role. |
The start-up CTO. The one about — ‘why you need a CTO’
Reading time: 7mins There is no single definition for the CTO role but it’s useful to understand how it might vary in different circumstances. Adrian Butter (@adriansbutter) offers his perspective on what the role is, but more importantly why you need a CTO in an early stage startup. |
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How to prepare for the coming CPU confusion
Reading time: 8mins The server-side software industry is about to switch from x86 to ARM CPUs. Although I understand something will change, I didn’t understand exactly what until I read this article from Mike Roberts (@mikebroberts). He also shares a very practical approach on how to prepare for this in our engineering teams which is a pattern I’ve seen used in the past 🎉. Anyone remember Sun SPARC computers? |
A Guide to GitHub for Non-Developers
Reading time: 5mins A lot of engineers can learn from the clarity of this blog post from Jennifer Johnson, describing how the FT uses GitHub in their deployment process. Although targeted at non-developers, this article is a great example of clear communication - useful to non-technical stakeholders as much as newer developers unfamiliar with GitHub and their deployment processes.
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Computer Scientists Break Traveling Salesperson Record
Reading time: 12mins After 44 years, there’s finally a better way to find approximate solutions to the notoriously difficult traveling salesperson problem. As reported by Erica Klarreich (@EricaKlarreich). It took almost 50 years but 3 researchers found an improvement to the best solution. The % increase is very funny though but you’ll have to read the article to find out more. |
Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) from a Real Company
10 Architecture Decision Records Many teams like the sounds of ADRs but have trouble finding concrete examples. CTO and co-founder of Upmo, Wisen Tanasa (@ceilfors) recently made some of their ADRs public. This website currently shares 10 ADRs that may inspire you and your team. |
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How to debug remote work, as suggested by new research
Article Reading time: 19mins (Full PDF infodeck: 212 pages) What a fascinating piece of research published by Leisa Reichelt (@leisa) at Atlassian exploring the impact on sudden remote work. Lots of amazing tips for leaders and managers and one of my favourites is a simple framework of three “experience factors” (household complexity, role complexity, network quality) that offers a great mental model to better understand and support your team. |
Dropbox goes Virtual First
Reading time: 9mins More tech companies are officially embracing remote working. Dropbox is the latest to not just say they are supporting remote working but they are going virtual first. I like the way they make a distinction between fully remote, hybrid and what they are proposed as virtual first. It also means they will still offer physical locations, which they name Dropbox Studios.
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Because the cost of code review when pair/mob programming is almost zero
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No, you don’t have to run like Google
Reading time: 7mins Just because Google, Amazon, or Facebook does it doesn’t mean you should. This spot-on article from Matt Asay (@mjasay) shares four FAANG ‘best practices’ you have permission to ignore. |
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Hot take - Data is not the new oil. Data is the new glitter:
- Lures humans in with its shininess
- Very easy to accumulate
- Found in places you least likely expect to find it
- Almost impossible to get rid of
- Everyone insists on using it w/o thinking through the consequences
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This is an amazing thread (🧵) if you can influence your benefits package at your current place. If not, it’s an interesting thought experiment.
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Was thinking about what the ideal benefits I would provide to employees if I ever started a company. What would you add? https://t.co/MuEN4s757z
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If you enjoyed this newsletter, please send me feedback and share with others! |
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Patrick Kua, Postfach 58 04 40, 10314, Berlin, Germany
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