Relax, recharge and find balance

In our fast-paced world, it seems impossible to catch a break because there is always a new piece of technology that will change everything. Being in technology means you need to keep track of these new tools and ideas in addition to consistently performing at work day in and day out. Therefore, to prevent burnout, finding moments of rest and relaxation is essential amidst the thrill and chaos of work and daily life. As a leader, it is necessary to find opportunities to recharge; otherwise, you would be unable to help anyone or contribute where it matters. Recently, I took a short break that beautifully balanced high-energy excitement with an island escape at the end, and I am grateful and blessed to have shared these experiences with my lovely wife.

It's all in the wiring

As a leader, I often find myself in a position where it appears the most essential part of my job is to “expedite.” As soon as an escalation is spotted somewhere, I get involved and request that the issue be resolved ‘ASAP.’ Then, I stumbled upon the book Wiring The Winning Organisation. The word ‘stumble’ may not be a good representation because the book would have flown into my orbit anyway. One of the authors is Gene Kim, and I have read most of his work, notably The Phoenix Project and The Unicorn Project.

Technical debt will not pay itself

In software development, technical debt refers to the future cost incurred when choosing an easy solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer. Every software product engineering effort accumulates technical debt. A software product rarely comes out as we envisioned it the first time. We start with what is very clear to us, what is achievable with our resources, and within the time constraints we have to go the market. As a result, we make compromises, not shortcuts, but well-thought-out trade-offs to enable us to get to the point where we can ship the product. Many quotes encourage us to do this, and rightfully so: “Perfect is the enemy of the good,” “Revenue delayed is revenue not earned,” and so on come to mind very quickly. While these trade-offs are necessary, they lead to the inevitable accumulation of technical debt.

Show me the money

I once saw a post by a young graduate on social media asking which technology job presents the best chance of “cashing out” or “hammering…” I’d like to know if I typed that right. Essentially, he asked which part of tech would guarantee he would become rich quickly and suddenly. I wouldn’t be hiring that guy.

DevOps without the culture is sysadmin

As businesses work hard to find ways to increase their efficiency and speed of delivery, they have turned to DevOps, a popular approach to software engineering and product delivery. It brings together development and operations to create a seamless process that results in faster delivery, higher quality, and better collaboration between teams. However DevOps does not always deliver on the promised and the core reason is that DevOps is not always being treated as a culture but a role or even worse a set of tasks.

Building a learning culture and loving it

In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations must adapt quickly to change and stay ahead of the competition. One way to achieve this is by building a learning culture within the organization. A learning culture prioritizes continuous learning and development, encouraging team members to constantly learn new skills and develop their expertise.

Build experience in a product team

From time to time, I interview talent for engineering or technology positions. No matter how many years they lay claim to on their resume, if they have not spent time working in a structured environment, it shows. Yes, the raw talent would shine through clearly, but something about them screams, ‘Not worked within an organized team.’ It signals the presence of some potential gaps in the engineer’s ability to fit in the team or signals a gap in the actual work experience.

Technology decisions are resource decisions

If you’ve been around the block in the world of engineering and technology projects, you have undoubtedly gone through phases of those projects where you obsessed over the best choice of technology stack. These decisions range from choosing the right operating system, programming language or framework, database, etc. If you are very good at your job, you probably would have employed a more scientific approach, like a decision matrix that helps capture the specific benefits of each option, so it is obvious how the decision is arrived at. Yet, even in our most scientific endeavors, there is always an element of bias. Whether it’s a fondness for the familiar or a devotion to the tech ‘cult’ we proudly belong to.

Local talent drain

I have been leading engineering and technology teams for almost two decades, and the industry’s biggest challenge when it comes to engineering and technology talent is losing them to managerial roles (which don’t allow them to continue to improve their skills or practice their craft) or, even worse, to non-engineering/technology roles.

Imagine working with a brilliant and creative software engineer, honing their skills. Five years later, they discover that those they started their careers with and have chosen to go to sales or business development have grown faster or are now earning more and have better opportunities.