Will Larson's Blog, page 11

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 ...

Team Charters are a trap.

I’m cleaning out old lingering drafts. This one’s on why I dislike Team Charters.

Recently an email came in asking about writing team charters. I’ve worked at a number of companies that asked teams to write charters, and I think it’s an interesting project. That said, it’s not a project I’d generally prioritize. If you pushed me on this topic, I’d probably suggest you write an engineering strategy document from the perspective of your team. A few thoughts on what team charters try to solve, and...

A bit late, but I did leave Calm.

I meant to post this when I left Calm earlier this year, as a ending note to my post on joining Calm, but instead I got focused on joining Carta and writing An Engineering Executive’s Primer. I’m cleaning out some of my old drafts, and posting this as an artifact of that moment. Although I ended up starting a role sooner than expected–it was the right opportunity to accept–I did get to spend more time with my kid, finish my next book, and get my running distance back up, so I’ll call it a succes...

Benchmarking.

Many of the most important questions for running an organization don’t have clear answers. In most engineering organizations, both the teams working on infrastructure and the teams working on product feel they are undersized. It’s also true that most individuals feel they are undercompensated. In the boom times, there is often enough investor money laying around to say yes to all these questions, but many leaders are acutely learning the long-term costs of expanding our budget too far.

While the...

Getting lucky isn't a plan.

One piece of flippant commentary that you’ll hear occasionally is that it’s “Better to be lucky than to be good.” On an individual level, it’s almost certainly true that being very lucky outperforms being quite good: I certainly know a number of folks who are financially successful after working at companies that succeeded, but where their direct impact was relatively small. Companies get lucky, too. This is true both in the sense that the door to acquisitions was much more attractive last decad...

Thoughts on writing and publishing Primer.

I’m materially finished writing my 3rd book, The Engineering Executive’s Primer. There’s one last chapter to go through tech review, and a fine line editing pass, but the hard stuff is largely done. Of course, that’s an author’s perspective, there is other hard stuff still to be done by other folks in the process, particularly formatting and printing.

Each book is an education of sorts, and I decided to work with O’Reilly on this book to push myself on structure and consistency. I think both are...

Developing leadership styles

For a long time, I found the micromanager CEO archetype very frustrating to work with. They would often pop out of nowhere, jab holes in the work I had done without understanding the tradeoffs, and then disappear when I wanted to explain my decisions. In those moments, I wished they would trust me based on my track record of doing good work. If they didn’t trust my track record, could they at least take the time to talk through the situation so I could explain my decisions?!

I longed for a more ...