Timothy McGrath

A new quick Cypress blog post about my "should read" assertion https://lnkd.in/eUC3ryaS

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🌟 Attention Engineering Managers and Technical Leaders! 🌟 In just two weeks, on June 28th at 10 AM PDT, I’m excited to host an interactive roundtable on Feature Flags and Delivery in conjunction with ELC! 🚀 Why Attend? This is a collaborative discussion where your expertise and curiosity are key! Whether you're experienced or eager to learn, your contributions are invaluable. 🔍 Discussion Points: - Decoupling Processes - Boosting Team Efficiency - Optimizing Feature Delivery - Tracking Platform Usage Expect rich conversations on best practices, unique implementations, methodologies, and the latest tools enhancing feature flagging and delivery. Who Should Join? - Engineering Managers - Technical Leads - DevOps Engineers - Software Developers This roundtable is your chance to: - Share your experiences - Gain new insights - Network with peers - Discover practical recommendations RSVP Now and mark your calendars for June 28th at 10 AM PDT! Let’s collaborate and elevate our skills together! #EngineeringManagement #TechLeaders #FeatureFlags #DevOps #SoftwareDevelopment #TeamEfficiency #TechRoundtable

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Just one month until my talk at KCDC: "Testcontainers: The Secret Weapon of Modern Software Development". Come listen and learn some cool things about automated testing with Containers! https://kcdc.info #KCDC #Testcontainers #Docker

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🎤*tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on?? If you're letting fear get in the way of using metrics to extend your management style, you're missing out on chances to better support your ICs. Check out my talk to learn how my team and I employed them safely, leveling up our 1-1 conversations around job satisfaction, burnout prevention, self-advocacy, and healthier team dynamics. ✨✨ https://lnkd.in/dPyJjRjx

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> "But isn’t it a little strange that despite so much information, teams and companies continue to be so challenging for most leaders? (1) Teams and companies are notoriously complex and difficult. (2) Reading and listening to content provides an illusion of learning. (3) Most leaders are on their own and don’t have good role models." I like how Paulo emphasises the importance of developing your coaching skills to support your teammates: > "Coaching is all about helping other people change (in some way). And we have an innate tendency to resist change. A good coach learns how to spend time in the other person’s mind, curious about their belief systems and mental models until it becomes second nature to do so." Just as a skilled guide equips you with a map and compass, a coach, mentor, or supportive external group can furnish you with the tools and frameworks needed to navigate your journey. They can also help you identify hidden obstacles that might otherwise impede your progress.

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If you want a lesson on inspiring loyalty in those who work for you, and garnering deep respect from the people who work with you, spend thirty minutes with Alexis Chitwood, MBA, PSM1, for whom phrases like "put people over process" go way beyond the words! "We follow the principle of people over process, putting people first the same way that we put our creators first. There’s a large sense of community and support at Raptive enforcing that idea that we can achieve more when we work together, and those lessons will stay with me forever." https://lnkd.in/eCYG_mw6

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Good post. I’ll just add that over-engineering and under-engineering are more orthogonal dimensions than the opposites. One can have neither or one or both. Ditto with “best practices”. A third dimension, almost completely divorced from the above two. This, of course, if you’re working on something tangible and nontrivial. If what you need is another “RESTful API” with “AI capabilities”, deployed via Kubernetes and Terraform, monitored with ELK, and developed and maintained by high-churn mid-to-senior engineers, then by all means use all the best practices you are aware of, and don’t forget to get all the agile coaches within reach onboard!

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Tech debt causally harms cost-of-change and meantime to adapt to market. You release a defect free, fully functioning piece of software that will *never change* but its code design is a mess. Would you care about tech debt? NO! Why? Because you don't need to change it. It works. It could be written in Whitespace or BrainF**k. Who cares. Nobody is going to look at it. What if it had a tiny change maybe once a year? How much would you care then? A bit more. Maybe Whitespace is ruled out but if it took a couple of days to work out what was happening would there be any business value in paying down the debt? 1 week of refactoring would take nearly 3 years before you break even. Not worth it. This isn't a hypothetical, I have built and maintained software which fits this exact scenario. When does the debt start to have a negative affect on cost-of-change and meantime to adapt to market? Once a quarter? Once a month? Now imagine that you are making hundreds of changes a day. How much is that tech debt costing your business now? And this is assuming that the software is 100% bug free and perfectly functioning. Now extend that, you are making hundreds of changes a day and the internal quality issues are causing you to create bugs which has the knock on effect of harming the user and customer's productivity. Devaluing your product. What's the cost of that debt to your business now? As engineers we need to talk more about how we are protecting and investing in technology in order to reduce cost-of-change and meantime to adapt to market, rather than talk technical debt. Because if we don't need to change or change rarely, then technical debt is not a problem.

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Curiosity, or the desire to know why something is the way it is and challenge it, is probably the most distinguishing characteristic of the best engineers I've worked with. As engineering leaders, I believe we should encourage more curiosity, and luckily, it is trainable by getting used to asking questions. Here's another instalment from me on this topic, would love to hear what you think!

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Book 106 of 2024. Means of Control by Byron Tau. A very compelling overview of how much of your data is available to both corporations and governments. When you don’t pay for the service, you are the product.

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Today, the SAS9 division embraced creativity and innovation with a twist on a beloved tradition: non-traditional gingerbread house building! The tradition of decorating gingerbread houses started several hundred years ago — a reminder of how long-standing practices can bring joy and connection. Just because something has been done the same way for years doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Our activity was a fun and delicious way to remind ourselves of the power of thinking outside the box. By challenging traditional methods, we unlock new possibilities, whether in holiday fun or tackling workplace challenges. How are you reimagining traditions or approaches in your work or personal life? Share your ideas below—I’d love to hear! #Innovation #TeamBuilding #HolidayTraditions #Creativity

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If you're the kind of person who's excited about all the recent S3 feature announcements (bucket policy unlocks via temporary root sessions, up to millions of buckets per account, pagination and region filtering for ListBuckets, conditional writes, ListCallerAccessGrants API) and you're attending re:Invent, then you should come to our storage track session, STG306 Advanced security patterns on Amazon S3. Learn how to use all the exciting new stuff securely in the most interactive format available at re:Invent!

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Insightful article by Jasmine Oliveira, Software Engineering Manager at Jellyfish. Jasmine explains why improving developer experience requires more than running surveys. By combining qualitative feedback with quantitative data, engineering leaders can finally push DevEx improvements to the top of the agenda. “Engineering leaders are in a great position to make the case for prioritizing developer experience by using data that’s easy to understand to business partners — drawing clear lines between experience, productivity, and business value. The result should propel developer experience to become the business priority it deserves to be.” To read the full piece from Jasmine, check out the link in the comments.

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It can't be a coincidence that my favorite band, LinkinPark, is celebrating their comeback in the same year I decided to step away from my current leadership role to become a software engineer again. Damn, it feels good hammering some lines of code on the keyboard while listening to LinkinPark again. 😅🤘🎵 Why did I change my role, you ask? The short answer: less talking, more doing. I’ve always loved leading creative teams and helping people shine. But leadership isn’t only about a title or a place on the organizational chart — it’s about setting an example and inspiring others. As a Principal Software Engineer at Shopware, I see my role as one where I can lead by example, pushing boundaries and driving innovation from the frontlines. It’s a hands-on approach, focused on building and making things happen. This is not a step back, but just another chapter in my career and not the last time I will try to be a good leader. "Heavy is the crown". https://lnkd.in/emHAJXkj

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As an engineering leader you may have to step away from code for extended periods of time and it can be *very* hard to get back into it. You lose context, projects change, tech changes and sometimes it’s just anxiety that you’ve lost your touch. I have found that AI tools can really help get through this. Copilot, ChatGPT, etc can help jog your memory and refresh your skills in a short period of time.

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What do you do when a senior engineer becomes disengaged? It's a tough question many managers face. In this post, I share the strategies that worked for me and several colleagues when dealing with this challenging situation. Whether you're a new or seasoned manager, I hope these insights prove helpful. #EngineeringManagement #Leadership https://lnkd.in/gGjP8mdk

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