I read this book back in 2016 and I needed a refresher on asking more and talking less. It boils down to these essential questions: kickstart question - “What’s on your mind?” An almost fail-safe...
Measure engineering productivity Know what to measure is important building a great engineering culture. One aspect to measure is engineering productivity. And the authors proposes 4 useful metrics: delivery lead time, deployment frequence, time to...
Why all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria is a great book in understanding systemic racism. Before we were born, human society exists with its own cultural debt. We come to this society...
Setting expectations is the one core goal of clear communication. From the perspective of a manager to a direct report, it’s about “what I expect from you” and “what you can expect from me”. And...
It’s my first engineering staff meeting. I am presenting a new sprint planning process. The small engineering team looks at me for direction. I have a vision on how to plan engineering work. However, whether...
In a small startup, everyone is wearing multiple hats. On a typical working day, I have many tasks. Some require coding; others require writing or having meetings and take actions item. In the beginning, my...
Learning is important, and if we find effective ways to learn, learning becomes fun. In addition to a common, solitary perception where learning involves us sitting in a library cafe thinking alone, learning can be...
Chinese characters are expressive and composite. There are 3000 plus characters, and much of those characters come from the composition of other characters. The way some characters are composed serves as an elegant, small lesson...
In any startups we have too many things that need to get done. Whenever we take on a task, we do the best we can to accomplish that task, and we embed repeatable, best practices...
The success of a startup depends on its people, culture, and product-market fit. As a startup grows, culture evolves. At an early stage of a startup, it’s vital to have a strong cultural foundation and...
