Developer Tea

Competency is not the only way you can grow your career. If that was the case, then every engineering manager would be technically more proficient than their reports, and I can guarantee (from many experiences) this is not only not the case - it's not even the norm. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables developmen...

Sometimes a small question can change the course of your career. It doesn't have to be complicated, and it doesn't have to be detailed. A well placed question might unearth information you didn't realize was in you. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations teams to deploy code at any time,...

In today's episode, I give you one question that is considered taboo (for some unknown reason) often in the workplace: What Do You Want? Amazingly, this diverse question is at the root of some of the most important conversations you'll have in your career. You are, after all, a human working with other humans - each with their own unique desires. 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and w...

Play isn't just for kids. In today's episode we'll reframe what play means, and why it's a principle for great work and lifelong learning. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Square Square has APIs for almost every aspect of running a business from employee management, to order creation and tracking, to inventory synchronization. Square’s APIs also integrate with software business owners alre...

When you find something that is counterintuitive, it's possible that it will create immense value to whatever problem you are trying to solve. Seek to interrogate your beliefs to build better explanations for what is true, and find those who disagree with you at an intuitive level. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly en...

Productivity is about working towards your goals, and optimization is about sharpening those efforts more directly. We talk about two forks in the road when you choose the types of optimization you'll deploy in your career and personal life. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations teams to...

Determining your values doesn't have to be an extremely serious or permanent exercise. Start at the simplest place you can, and iterate. Your values are as evolving and changing as you are - keep them held lightly. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Square Square has APIs for almost every aspect of running a business from employee management, to order creation and tracking, to inventory sync...

If you feel like everything is spinning around you and it's difficult to remain productive, you aren't alone. In this episode we talk about core tools and activities, and why it's so important to spend the majority of your time working in your core. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations...

Productivity measurements often show nothing of value at all. Today we'll discuss how complexity (or "story") points may actually show exactly the opposite of productivity. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Instabug Building and maintaining mobile applications is not simple. Through comprehensive bug and crash reports, performance monitoring and real time user feedback, Instabug gives you t...

Productivity is meaningless without a goal, and no activity is banned from being considered productive. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Instabug Building and maintaining mobile applications is not simple. Through comprehensive bug and crash reports, performance monitoring and real time user feedback, Instabug gives you the visibility you need to build top quality apps. Go to Instabug.com...

On the whole, exceptions are not exceptional. Each one may be unpredictable or rare, but they happen very regularly. How are you prepared to handle those exceptions? Make space today for the principle of headroom. 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com. 📮 Join the Discord If you want to be...

The quality of your options is determined by the quality of your inputs. If your decisions have no good options, consider what the source of those options is. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Instabug Building and maintaining mobile applications is not simple. Through comprehensive bug and crash reports, performance monitoring and real time user feedback, Instabug gives you the visibility...

The background noise in today's episode wasn't just a mistake, it was a choice. A tradeoff. Tradeoffs represent a decision of control and energy. You will make them every day, but towards what goal? When you make a tradeoff and decide where to put your energy, you are necessarily deciding not to put it elsewhere. So, do so with purpose and intention. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Launch...

What was the last time you prepared for a meeting? I'm not talking about the times when you were forced to prepare. I mean, when was the last time you put thought and effort into a meeting that most people just show up to? In this episode, we talk about simple ways to go the extra mile. Also, this involves no extra work on your part. 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and would like me...

Premortems aren't just a tool for teams launching projects. You can use these for your personal goals as well. What are the things most likely to stop you from achieving your goals today, this month, this year, or by the end of your career? 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com. 📮 Join the...

Comparison is a powerful tool that humans are exceedingly good at wielding. However, as with any powerful tool, it can easily be misused to damaging effect. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Square Square has APIs for almost every aspect of running a business from employee management, to order creation and tracking, to inventory synchronization. Square’s APIs also integrate with software bu...

In this episode, we'll discuss the importance of breaking false ties in a negotiation scenario. This happens more often than we realize, and the best way to do this is by breaking down the problem of "what is important" to each side in a negotiation. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations...

Decision-making shouldn't just be about algorithms. It also shouldn't be just about intuition. Incorporating both is required to make the best decisions for your career. 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com. 📮 Join the Discord If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineer...

Most decisions that are worth considering longer than a moment fall into the category of "intermediate decisions" we discuss in today's episode. These decisions require more than the quick snap judgments we all make, but shouldn't take significant deliberation or extended study to make. These decisions are the primary fuel for your career. 📮 Ask a Question If you enjoyed this episode and would li...

In today's episode we talk about finding perspective and purpose through the lens of two principles and one bonus exercise. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations teams to deploy code at any time, even if a feature isn't ready to be released to users. Innovate faster, deploy fearlessly, a...

In today's episode, we discuss the principle of isolation. We use isolation in decisionmaking regularly! Now, let's learn how to harness it. You can only optimize what you isolate. 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Square Square has APIs for almost every aspect of running a business from employee management, to order creation and tracking, to inventory synchronization. Square’s APIs also in...

Communication is hard. Like most things, we try to oversimplify it by turning "understanding" into a black and white, binary state. Communication and understanding is, however, a spectrum. Singular messages are low resolution, and it's our job when communicating with each other to increase the resolution of our communication. We talk about a simple framework for doing just that in today's episode....

In today's episode we discuss two types of decision evaluations, and a brief explanation of noise in decisionmaking. You're making judgment calls every day - are they good? How do you know? 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operations teams to deploy code at any time, even if a feature isn't re...

We all have some kind of motivation. But in error, we assume we know the motivations of others, and we also assume that our future selves will act in alignment with well-intentioned motivations. Both of these assumptions can lead us to poor decisions about our career. For managers, that assumption can lead you to making decisions for others that are suboptimal to their goals. In this episode we ta...

How do you keep the big picture in mind while also executing on the details? In today's episode we talk about the three-part pyramid that represents the big picture. We also overuse alliterations a bit in the episode, hopefully it helps you remember it! 🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: LaunchDarkly This episode is brought to you by LaunchDarkly. LaunchDarkly enables development and operati...