|
|
May 16 · Issue #92 · 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.
|
|
Harm caused by being stuck in Maker mode You’ll often hear me talk about the mindset shift required of Individual Contributors (Makers) when stepping into Leadership roles (Multipliers). In one my workshops this week, I had a question, “What harm is caused when a tech lead is stuck in ‘Maker Mode’?” Although there are many negative consequences, here are three common ones:
-
Harm to individuals’ motivation - I remember when I worked on a team where the tech lead would “refactor” (i.e. rewrite) everyone’s code overnight. The first time it happened, most developers thought it would be a once-off, but it started to happen more and more frequently. Most of the team ended up demotivated. “Why should I bother putting in effort into writing good code if it was going to be rewritten anyway?” Reviewing every single task (i.e. micromanagement) is often a symptom of someone stuck in Maker mode.
-
Harm to individuals’ potential - When a team member loses their intrinsic motivation (e.g. to add value, to learn, to improve) through micromanagement, a normal result is they wait to be told what to do. Simply put, a person won’t grow to their fullest potential. Most disempowered teams I’ve worked with never started that way… leaders, and the system they manage, took it away.
-
Harm to the leader as burnout - When a leader feels responsible for the entire team but is stuck in maker mode, their mindset drives them to do everything - not just for themselves but for the entire team. This is completely unsustainable. Unfortunately, I witness this too frequently with newly minted leaders, trying to juggle three full-time jobs - their role as a full-time individual contributor, their leadership responsibilities and everyone else’s work.
A key to preventing these negatives consequences is ensuring technical leaders transition from a maker-focused to multiplier-focused mindset. Their current situation might require some maker-skills, but to be sustainable in the long-term, the only real solution is to multiply the effectiveness of the team they are leading.
|
|
Technical leaders harm themself with burnout if stuck in Maker mode
|
|
Wanted: CEO & Partner at bidi.one EdTech & end-to-end tutoring platform bidi.one is looking for a CEO & Partner to drive growth and I18N. Apply here and join our team.
|
|
|
Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work
Reading time: 8mins Earlier this week, I read a terrible WSJ interview with WeWork’s CEO who said that the most engaged employees are those who want to spend time in the office. Ignoring the inherent bias from a CEO of a company that sells office space, Scott Berkun (@berkun) offers a perspective of where fear of remote work stems from.
|
How to get Things Done: Raise Your Organizational Awareness
Reading time: 6mins This is a fantastic article from Kate Leto (@kleto) a lot of leaders struggle with. In many cases, a team will need to work with another team, influence a different outcome and priority and this article provides a good starting point - raise your organisational awareness.
|
How the busiest people get 'deep work' done
Reading time: 8mins For leaders, in particular, finding time for uninterrupted work may feel utterly unrealistic but is important. Here are some methods you can use to optimise what limited ‘deep work’ time you have.
|
APAC-ideal date/time now available and going fast (click the banner)
|
|
Security researcher successfully jailbreaks an Apple AirTag
Reading time: 6mins I’ve read about how AirTag’s can be socially abused (e.g. make it easy to stalk someone) but this article from Jim Salter (@jrssnet) is the first I’ve read about this product’s first security breach 🤨.
|
The 2021 State of Testing report is out
PDF Report: 40 pages (email required) This is the 8th annual “State of Testing” report offering insights typically from those who self-identify as performing some sort of testing. I found some interesting results like 39% report doing some sort of chaos engineering (up from 9% in 2020) and more people wanting to find better ways to test ML/AI work.
|
The way things work in Llewellyn's world: What is an Agile Technical Coach?
|
|
🌟🌟🌟 Reach thousands of engineering leaders around the world. Maybe you want to share a leadership role you’re looking to fill? Interested in becoming a sponsor? Get in touch for details. 🌟🌟🌟
|
|
|
What we’re getting wrong in the return-to-office debate
Reading time: 7mins If you’re like several of the leaders I coach, I’m sure there have been many debates about how best to balance working from the office and remote work. I enjoyed this article from S. Mitra Kalita (@mitrakalita) highlighting some points you may not have considered.
|
The Mortifying Ordeal of Pairing All Day
Reading time: 6mins I’m saddened by this experience report shared by Nat Bennett (@nota_bennett) who share their burnout experience from pairing all day. Although I recognise some of their symptoms, having done a lot of pair programming in my life, I also never worked in an environment where we pair programmed all day every day for long periods of time. I always worked in teams where we would have solo time for research, reading, and other activities. Good lessons though for leaders and managers responsible for the environment.
|
Why you should invest in good Developer Experience today
Reading time: 5mins I like this article from Jacob Bo Tiedemann (@jabopiti) and Tanja Bach (@tanjabach) as it shares some concrete examples of what poor developer experience looks like and what you can do to change it. It also emphasises the financial cost which technical leaders need to recognise *and* communicate to influence management to invest.
|
|
|
|
If you want to up your software architecture diagramming/communication game as a team, step 1 is to agree upon a common language ... whether that's UML, ArchiMate, SysML, the C4 model, or something proprietary. Until that happens, tooling choices are irrelevant.
|
|
|
Very true (and not just for summer!)
|
|
People leaders, you better make sure your teams are happy this summer. Hiring is ramping up, and other hiring managers (including me!) are going to come knocking. So you better make sure they are supported, challenged, nurtured, and PAID.
|
|
|
|
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please send me feedback and share with others!
|
Did you enjoy this issue?
|
|
|
|
In order to unsubscribe, click here.
If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.
|
|
Patrick Kua, Postfach 58 04 40, 10314, Berlin, Germany
|