Will Larson's Blog, page 10

Advancing the industry.

Early in my career, I navigated most decisions by simple hill climbing: if it was a more prestigious opportunity and paid more, I took it. As I got further, and my personal obligations grew, I started to think about navigating a 40-year career, where a given job might value pace rather than prestige. Over the last few years, what I’ve come to appreciate is that there’s another phase: purpose.

Purpose isn’t intrinsically the third phase of a career, but it certainly has been for me, as I was fixa...

Notes on Enterprise Architecture as Strategy

Enterprise Architecture as Strategy by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David C Robertson is an interesting read on how integrating technology across business units shifts the company’sstrategy landscape. Written in 2006, case studies are not particularly current but the ideas remains relevant.

The technology industry is simultaneously grasped by the optimism that things are changing constantly–your skills from last year are already out of date!–andthe worry that nothing particularly important...

Create technical leverage: workflow improvements & product capabilities

More than a decade ago, I typed up a few paragraphs of notes, titled it “Building Technical Leverage,” and proceeded to forget about it. Those notes were from a meeting with Kevin Scott, then SVP Engineering at LinkedIn, while we wandered the Valley trying to convince potential acquirers to buy Digg. It was only this morning that I remembered that the post exists when I started trying to title this post on the same topic.

A decade later, I have accumulated more thoughts on the matter. Starting w...

Navigators

In Staff Engineer’s chapter on Managing Technical Quality, one of the very last suggestions is creating a centralized process to curate technical changes:

Curate technology change using architecture reviews, investment strategies, and a structured process for adopting new tools. Most misalignment comes from missing context, and these are the organizational leverage points to inject context into decision-making. Many organizations start here, but it’s the last box of tools that I recommend openi...

Notes on The Crux

The Crux by Richard Rumelt is a fantastic follow on to his Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, providing many of the same core ideas but in a more readable format, and a clearer target to take down: the incoherent outputs of process and goal-driven strategy.

Recently, I’ve been looking for more strategy books to read, andfolks pointed out that I’d missed a new book from Richard Rumelt,The Crux.No book has influenced my thinking about strategy more than Rumelt’s previous work,Good Strategy, Bad Str...

Engineering strategy notes.

Recently, I am thinking quite a bit about engineering strategy,and as part of that have started re-reading previous resourceson the topic, and looking for new things to read while I refinemy point of view on what makes for good engineering strategy.

The best introduction to my current theory of engineering strategy isSolving the Engineering Strategy Crisis,which has both written and video versions.You can also reading my other strategy writing via the strategy tag.

Let me know what I’m mi...

Notes on Technology Strategy Patterns

Technology Strategy Patterns by Eben Hewitt is a methods-based approach to engineering strategy, with a particular focus on the methods wielded by McKinsey consultants, software engineering mainstays like Thoughtworks, and philosophy. A valuable read for anyone looking to build their own theory of engineering strategy.

In June, 2019, I bought a copy ofTechnology Strategy Patternsby Eben Hewiit.A the time, I was trying to argue against a large, proposed migration to Javaat Stripe, collecting...

Notes on The Software Engineer's Guidebook

The Software Engineer’s Guidebook by Gergely Orosz is a broad reference book for software engineers that will be particularly valuable for new software engineers and those who’ve worked most of their career in a small number of companies. It doesn’t go deep everywhere, but leaves a breadcrumb on most topics you’ll encounter as a software engineer, along with enough detail to guide deeper exploration in other, narrower books.

Gergely Orosz is the author of The Pragmatic Engineer,and almost cert...

Notes on Tidy First?

Tidy First? by Kent Beck captures the spirit of Ousterhout’s A Philosophy of Software Design while also recognizing the inherent tensions of developing software within a team and business. You can also read it in about two hours. Recommended!

A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhoutis one of my favorite books on software design. When I heard that Kent Beck had a new book out,Tidy First?,that was deliberately engaging with similar content but a markedly different pedagogy,I knew I ...

Notes on The Value Flywheel Effect

The Value Flywheel Effect is a worthwhile read. It’s imperfect, but a fascinating look into real-world application of Wardley mapping, and a rare view of a company’s engineering strategy.

I’m currently diving into the topic of engineering strategy,and a sub-topic that I’ve not previously spent much time on isWardley maps.As I dug into it a bit more,The Value Flywheel Effectby Anderson, McCann, and O’Reilly was recommended as a primer, so I bought a copyand spend some time working through ...