Culture
In Praise of Being Unproductive (via Harvard Business Review)
Technology has created two expectations: 1) that we’re available at all times, and 2) if you could be working, you should be working. On top of that, capitalism’s tendency is to equate “useful” with “can make money”, so we’re not incentivized to be unproductive and rest. The author suggested taking a “tech Shabbat”, from the Jewish tradition of not working one day each week (on the Sabbath) and using that time for reflection and rest.
Do Software Developers Normally Code on Weekends? Work-life Balance and Overtime in the Tech Industry (via The Software Mentor)
This article was a fantastic argument for not putting in long hours and learning on your own time for skills you need for your job. There are exceptions, but there’s something flawed if you need to constantly go over 40 hours a week.
In this week’s book club meetup, we discussed managing remote workers.
The Truth About Open Offices (via Harvard Business Review)
- “In a number of workplaces we have observed for research projects or consulting assignments, those structures have produced less interaction—or less meaningful interaction—not more.”
- Face-to-face interaction goes down, electronic interaction goes up.
- The study of remote work not being effective was from 2008-2012; I believe the tools have likely improved (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
- Try things out and keep what works
- There’s no single solution. “The goal should be to get the right people interacting with the right richness at the right times.”
What a Companywide Book Club Could Do for Health Care Systems (via Harvard Business Review)
A healthcare company took a top-down approach to a book club by choosing books that aligned with the company’s vision. The article covers several of their recent book choices and explained how they implemented the program on a large scale.
Leadership
Why Likable Leaders Seem More Efficient (via Harvard Business Review)
Being likable is necessary but not sufficient. “Leaders need to lead, yes, but they also need to balance out a single-minded focus on outcomes by developing a rapport with and demonstrating a high regard for their people.” If people don’t like you, they will tend to rank you lower on other aspects of leadership.
Process
Make Great Decisions Quickly with TOMASP (via Software Lead Weekly)
- Timebox
- Generation more options
- Meta decision (decide how you’ll decide)
- Analyze your options
- Step back
- Prepare to be wrong
Software development
5 Bad Habits Of Software Developers (via The Software Mentor)
- No code structure or style — becomes difficult to manage as it grows
- Copy-pasting code blindly
- Staying up late at nights — being heads down when everyone’s not at work, but you still need to be rested for the morning
- Lack of documentation — makes it difficult to onboard other devs
- Writing code without testing
Technology
We Need AI That Is Explainable, Auditable, and Transparent (via Harvard Business Review)
This article lists several examples where AI amplified biases, where the outcome impacts people in a profound way — getting a job, getting approved for a loan, keeping a job, etc. These systems must be subject to human oversight, the algorithms must be explainable, and the data sources for training must be transparent and open for audit. In the end, there’s a call for augmentation not automation — people and AI working together instead of one replacing the other.
AI Can Outperform Doctors. So Why Don’t Patients Trust It? (via Harvard Business Review)
People don’t perceive that the algorithm is taking into account their individuals characteristics and circumstances; in other words, the algorithm applies to the average patient. The solution the authors propose seems weak: Tell the patient all of the personal context that’s going into the decision. I believe a bigger piece of what’s missing is the human connection.