tl;dr in tech - Issue #90

The Best Managers Don’t Fix, They Coach - Four Tools To Add to Your Toolkit

By: First Round Review

tl;dr: Learn how to coach - not “fix” - team members in various situations like: (1) Outcome shift: assisting a team member who is spinning on a problem. (2) Options exploration: understanding a team member’s challenge and desired outcome. (3) Acknowledging strengths: helping team members overcome imposter syndrome or a lack of confidence. (4) Identifying unconscious assumptions that might be holding a team member back.

Two Types Of Software Engineers

By: Thorsten Ball

tl;dr: Thorsten presents two types of engineers: Type 1 thinks a problem is “easy, people can just do X,” while Type 2 considers it “very hard, because it requires people to do X.” Understanding this subtle difference is important in problem-solving.

Junior To Senior: An Action Plan For Engineering Career Success

By: Jerome Hardaway

tl;dr: This guide covers: (1) Key technical competencies managers prioritize for career advancement. (2) Essential communication skills expected from senior developers. (3) How to approach code development with a focus on addressing business requirements.

Unit Testing Analytics Code

By: Matt Kaye

tl;dr: Matt discusses the pushback he often faces when discussing unit testing in analytics code, focusing on the lack of understanding behind its value and importance.

Taming The Nested Beast

By: Eliran Turgeman

tl;dr: Eliran acknowledges the downsides of overly nested code but focuses on techniques for flattening nested code when needed. Note that flattening isn’t always the answer.

The Free Software Foundation Is Dying

By: Drew DeVault

tl;dr: Drew discusses the decline of the Free Software Foundation, acknowledging its past achievements and the continued importance of software freedom principles.

6 CSS Snippets Every Front-End Developer Should Know In 2023

By: Adam Argyle

tl;dr: Handy CSS snippets for front-end developers include: (1) A container query. (2) Scroll snap. (3) Grid pile. (4) Quick circle. (5) Control variants with @layer. (6) Logical properties for memorizing less and reaching more.

Fast-Forwarding Decision Making

By: James Stanier

tl;dr: James advises to hold yourself accountable for making decisions and progressing discussions as quickly as possible. Dead time is your enemy, so be creative about ways to shave minutes, hours, and days from a decision point.

Slack

By: Martin Fowler

tl;dr: Martin discusses the concept of “slack” in timeboxed iterations, where time isn’t allocated for user stories but rather for unplanned work. Though it may seem inefficient, it often leads to significant improvements in a team’s productivity.

Time Is Emphasis: Planning Your Calendar As A Leader

By: Molly Graham

tl;dr: Molly shares insights from a study analyzing the calendars of 27 CEOs, highlighting the importance of having explicit priorities and structure for your calendar. She offers templates and examples to help you allocate time for strategic priorities effectively.