How to Choose a Team Size
Teams operate best at certain sizes. Try sub-teams of 3-4 engineers, and interleaving active projects more often at the sprint boundaries.
Recent Posts
The Programmer Mindset - Main Debug Loop
Validating ONLY with tests is basically flying the plane on instrumentation, versus being able to look out the windshield. Flying visually and by muscle-memo...
Getting Started Estimating with Story Points
How do you bootstrap a team to use story points?
Writing Your Self Review
The best feedback is tied to one or more specific examples, and also highlights the impact of what happened on the team or company.
What I Learned at My Last Job
On the surface, what you learn at a particular job takes the form of bullet points on your resume. But there are also deeper, more private lessons.
Interviewing as a Manager
Interviewing as an engineering manager is quite different from interviewing as an individual contributor.
How to Handle Layoffs as a Manager
All companies go through layoffs. As a manager, you can count on participating in one, someday.
Product Management 101
This is intended as a guide for new front-line product managers on my team. It could also double as an introduction for people brand new to the discipline. M...
How to Give 360 Peer Feedback
Managers have a lot of practice giving people feedback. Most other engineers are only asked to give formal peer feedback once or twice a year. These are know...
Teams Working at a Sustainable Pace
How do you make sure that your team is not signing up for too much?