Lee Robinson

There's an oft-cited stat from Pendo that 80% of software features are rarely, if ever, used. While it's impossible to know the accuracy of that, it's not hard to believe. I've been part of multiple feature factories, where emphasis was put on new features to 'claim' rather than taking time to ensure we've actually solved the desired problem before moving onto the next. If you're a Product Manager/Leader in the Indy area, join us on August 14 for a conversation around best practices for measuring product success. We'll have food, drinks, and hopefully some great learnings! (Registration link in the comments)

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Question for engineering leaders (managers, directors, VP's, etc): I'm curious about the current landscape of developer productivity analysis + management tools - things like LinearB and Jellyfish. Which tool, if any, are you using? Any opinions/pros/cons on the tool you're using (or the entire domain overall)?

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I lead an informal 15 minute pre-standup meeting with my team (which we call Coffee-n-tix). It's a great tool for being an effective leader and for bringing psychological safety to my team. Engineers hate meetings, especially ones that _seem_ redundant, but below is why I keep it to this day. Reason 1: Recognition and reward > The normal standup is usually time-constrained. They're scheduled back-to-back across teams, so people usually have to be succinct to wrap up on time. > But on the pre-standup time, we can take our time to thank people for something they did. > We can go into details. We can be specific. We can share exactly what was done, how, and why it's appreciated. > This is a great mechanism for building team morale, preventing burnout, and rewarding laudable behavior. Reason 2: Preparing for the day > The standup meeting is all about what you're working on and your current blockers. It usually doesn't allow a lot of time to be strategic about how to use your time. > In the pre-standup meeting, we look at capacity and demand. We try to anticipate issues, and develop contingency plans for what to do when those issues come up. For example, we might decide that we need a person to not be overloaded with work because they need to be ready to provide production support, or we might decide that a brainstorming or pair programming session is needed. > This lets us be prepared ahead of time, instead of getting caught with our pants down. Reason 3: Tracking metrics. > During our pre-standup meeting, we look at our current metrics (usually just staring at the Jira board). > This is a great time to have honest, frank conversations about tickets that are taking too long, were not properly thought through, or have challenges that we didn't anticipate. > Then when we join the normal standup meeting, we can present a united front to the wider audience and we have a plan to tackle whatever the issue might be. Reason 4: Problem solving. > There isn't a single day where we don't confront problems or challenges. > And surprisingly, most times the problems are incredibly dumb like someone doesn't know how to deploy or test a change. > The pre-standup meeting gives us time to talk about those issues directly and resolve them. We can choose to just talk about them, do a quick diagramming session, or maybe even do a Code with me session. > Then when we join the standup meeting, we can go over those problems super briefly but also explain how we are already a step ahead and we have a solution in mind. > Or, if we have a big, scary problem that we can't figure out before standup, we've already ruled out all the easy stuff and we can focus the energies of the larger audience on resolving this issue, thereby saving everybody time. #engineeringmanagement #softwareengineering

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A lot of companies are going to learn quickly that having principal/staff PMs aren’t a silver bullet. If senior PMs can’t make reasonably good progress in a company, you have problems elsewhere. Principal/staff PMs are more experienced, obviously, but a lot of work doesn’t require principal / staff level experience (or shouldn’t require if, at least).

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The development cycle https://lnkd.in/ggh5NTfh Posted on October 15, 2024 how to clean up code. run your code to make sure it works while (work_to_do){ make a small change test it commit to git } push to git server on local branch try it on another machine collapse git commits for code review test post for code review How to add a new feature run your code make sure it works while (work_to_do){ write a small test while (test doesn’t pass){ make a small change test it } commit to git } push to git server on local branch try it on another machine collapse git commits for code review test post for code review

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On a recent episode of the SyntaxFM podcast, Wes Bos, Scott Tolinski, and guest Scott Jehl review the landscape of web components (aka, custom elements). I haven't used custom elements myself; but, I have been doing a lot of work with #AlpineJS. And, one thing that Jehl mentioned that piqued my curiosity was the use of custom elements to format date/time values on the client-side using #JavaScript. I wanted to explore this concept by binding an Alpine component to an HTML `<time>` element that supplies both a UTC datetime attribute and a desired date formatting mask. Read more: https://bennadel.com/4730

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Let's build something great together! 🤝 @mParticle's CDP 2.0 is a collaborative platform that brings marketing and IT teams closer. Learn how to break down silos and drive better business outcomes. 📈 Read our new blog series!

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One of the most tedious (but critical tasks) for software development teams is updating foundational software. It’s not new feature work, and it doesn’t feel like you’re moving the experience forward. As a result, this work is either dreaded or put off for more exciting work—or both. Amazon Q, our GenAI assistant for software development, is trying to bring some light to this heaviness. We have a new code transformation capability, and here’s what we found when we integrated it into our internal systems and applied it to our needed Java upgrades: - The average time to upgrade an application to Java 17 plummeted from what’s typically 50 developer-days to just a few hours. We estimate this has saved us the equivalent of 4,500 developer-years of work (yes, that number is crazy but, real). - In under six months, we've been able to upgrade more than 50% of our production Java systems to modernized Java versions at a fraction of the usual time and effort. And, our developers shipped 79% of the auto-generated code reviews without any additional changes. - The benefits go beyond how much effort we’ve saved developers. The upgrades have enhanced security and reduced infrastructure costs, providing an estimated $260M in annualized efficiency gains. This is a great example of how large-scale enterprises can gain significant efficiencies in foundational software hygiene work by leveraging Amazon Q. It’s been a game changer for us, and not only do our Amazon teams plan to use this transformation capability more, but our Q team plans to add more transformations for developers to leverage.

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I've long struggled with calling saying something has "Good" or "Bad" Developer Experience (DX) because it's extremely binary and doesn't really help product teams improve their DX. For that reason when I started the Developer Advocacy program at Twilio and began to work with product teams on improving their DX we ended up creating the "DX Spectrum" framework that is helping product teams evaluate their DX better and helps to answer the question "How do we create a magical developer experience?" https://lnkd.in/ggMmCx_e

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Over the weekend, I recorded my talk from THAT Conference and uploaded it to YouTube. It's called "Frontend Techniques in the Realm of Hyrule with React" and is a beginner-friendly dive into React hooks and dynamic content loading. The video includes a link to the live demo & slides, and the GitHub repo so you can check out the code yourself! The repo is a work in progress, so please bear with me as I make tweaks and additions to ensure it's useful!

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Stop calling it technical debt. We’re not fixing old code - we’re investing in our platform's future. As product leaders, we often struggle to get buy-in for these critical improvements because we're telling the wrong story. Here's what transformed our customer conversations: Instead of talking about refactoring legacy systems, we shared how we're strengthening our foundation to unlock new possibilities. Rather than discussing system complexity, we focused on how our platform investments directly improve reliability and speed. The magic happened when we stopped apologizing for maintenance and started showcasing the long-term vision. Our customers don't care about our code - they care about growing their business, staying competitive, and reducing risks. The key is simple - translate technical challenges into business opportunities. Customers want to hear about outcomes, not operations. #ProductLeadership #TechnicalStrategy #CustomerSuccess #ProductManagement

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I believe that when people lament about tech debt, it's a misdirected complaint. Engineering teams will always be producing some amount of technical "debt." Even if we write beautiful, well-tested code that fits some noble architectural paradigm and meets every standard we can come up with, it is guaranteed to be deficient in some way--either now or to the team's (or our own personal) future views on what constitutes good code. When we write code, we come to some consensus as a team around what approaches we generally accept and what trade-offs we are generally willing to tolerate. And that's completely normal and unavoidable. But when we complain about tech debt, what we are actually complaining about is a deficient process. All software teams need to have dedicated time to revise our work. Far too often, we prioritize feature development over all other things. The end results of that deficient process are, invariably, twofold: a product with shiny new bells and whistles and a sea of spaghetti under the hood; and a team of stressed out engineers who have to work in a messy, frustrating codebase every single day.

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Just wrapped up Marty Cagan's latest book, "Transformed," and I must say, it's an absolute pleasure. Excited to share two crucial (for me) insights on fostering a truly effective product operating team: 1/ Ensure your team has direct (direct!) access to stakeholders across various domains—legal, marketing, you name it—alongside regular user interviews and robust data from analytics systems. 2/ Challenge your team with problems to solve, not just features to build. It's about cultivating a problem-solving mindset that drives innovation and meaningful solutions. Useful tip: move from feature-based roadmap to outcome-based roadmap. Have you ever met truly product-led teams?

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Fix this red flag and you'll 10x improve every step in landing your next remote role: When asked why you're interested in this company or role... Your answer cannot be: • "I want to be creative." • "I want to be someplace I can grow." • "I want to go remote so I have more freedom." What's the problem with these answers? It's all about you. Focus on the company or the job itself. • What about the work makes it interesting? • What about this type of company excites you? • Why are you a better fit than others who apply? Stop thinking about your passions. Start thinking about how you'll create value. Once you've done this mental reframe, start back at the top of your process. Practice this in your: • Resume • Cover letter • LinkedIn profile • Every job application • Every interview you do Then, the opportunities will come. For more tips on landing your next remote job, subscribe to The Connection. Link in the comments. -- My name is Chris Ming. Follow for tips to land a remote job, go remote, and how to move your family abroad. #remotework #jobsearch #remoteworking

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Join me for an interesting session on #devex and how to think about organizational and engineering metrics.

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I've been thinking about the challenge of preserving the "low priority voice" as software products scale. As teams and projects grow, folks outside of development and product positions seem to get more and more quiet—or maybe they're just harder to hear. Sure, a typo here, some inconsistent spelling there; these don't really rise to the level of "bugs" since nothing's technically broken. But when these little things accumulate, they can start to chip away at the users' trust in the product and the company. Curious to know, how are others tackling this within their teams? #SoftwareDevelopment #TeamCollaboration #QualityAssurance

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Today we launched Slack lists - a new way to bring project management right into the flow of work. Huge congrats to the entire team who worked on this - y’all put your heart and soul into the feature. With Slack lists you can track projects, create to-do lists, manage bug lists, all right within Slack. Combine lists with workflows and you can collect data from a form (again, right in Slack), and store it in the list. Now, the possibilities for creating and managing structured data within Slack are endless. We made sure to integrate Slack lists deeply into Slack’s core collaboration model. Within the list you can @mention people, thread comments around list items, set reminders, and share lists items directly in conversations. Lists are searchable and shareable throughout Slack. From a design perspective we’ve put a ton of effort into crafting the list to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible or people to use. Further, lists make it easy for people to stay right in Slack - no swiveling to other apps or interfaces to manage your projects. This will save our customers time, and hopefully money. You hope you'll ❤️ love lists.

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A few controversial things I believe about writing code: 1) Code should be comforting, not just functional. I’m not saying it should be flowery or overcomplicated. I’m just saying it should be easy to read and pleasant to navigate. 2) Comments should be personal. Contrary to popular belief, dry comments are a waste of time. “Initializes variable.” “Checks condition.” “Executes loop.” Generic comments are hard to remember and easily overlooked. 3) Humor belongs in your code. “Most people” keep their code dry and formal. Which leads to… Boring code. Disengaged devs. Missed opportunities for connection. Clearly, what “most people” do doesn’t work. So, add a little personality. 4) Consistent formatting isn’t negotiable. 99% of the time, neglecting formatting is a giant mistake. Instead, Robert Martin’s “Clean Code” framework offers a path to elegance without clutter. Consistent naming conventions. Proper indentation. Thoughtful use of whitespace. 5) Pursuing code efficiency at all costs is a silly goal. Because readability and maintainability often matter more. Code that’s easy to understand is a better pursuit in life. It saves time. It reduces errors. It fosters collaboration. If we all have to spend time there anyway, why not make it nice? In a world of deadlines and conflicting requirements, your code can be a refuge, a place of quiet contemplation. 🪷 Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog: https://lnkd.in/gjZbQJrP

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Working on a specification for https://lnkd.in/g-pBfAQv. Then I can verify it with tests and https://blprnt.tech/. I'm reminded that wormwood is optimized for readable source code, not UX. There is very little syntax validation.

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