Join my newsletter for regular views and news about doing effective, essential human DevOps engineering. I dive into the human factors that make successful DevOps organizations and the teams and platforms at the heart of your socio-technical systems. From leadership to team setup, maximizing performance, tools and techniques.
Human DevOps: Friday 15th March - How to be a Happier Software Engineer
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As a lifelong coder and professional software geek, I've always been interested in the systems we use to build software. Lately, I've realised that these systems are often social — much more so than technical. Consequently, I've connected with the great and the good in the world of what I'm calling "humane software development". For me, this work is spearheaded by the work that Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais have done with Team Topologies. Since the end of last year, I've been an official Team Topologies advocate, and since then I've started working with the core team on bringing the message of Team Topologies to a wider audience. A key part of what makes Team Topologies so useful is the notion that Conway's Law is unavoidable. In other words, we build what our organisation, to some extent, allows us to build. Therefore, we can influence not only what we build but also how we build it by paying close attention to the teams we use to build the software and sensing how much stress they are under. Therefore, part of my work is to understand, at an individual level, how I can improve my team's situation every day. Part of it is through hosting talks such as next week's Amsterdam Fast Flow Meetup. Some of it for me is through writing and connection. Therefore, I've been exploring the social, organizational, and emotional side of building software. What makes us want to build it, and how can we do it together more effectively? When reading about this, it's easy to get very theoretical and as a practical, engineering type, I want solutions. Therefore, this week I wrote "How to be a Happier Software Engineer". This post summarises where I'm going with this newsletter better than anything and hopefully gives you some practical tips on how we can have more fun and get more done at work. If you're interested in how to be a happy software engineer, or how to make those around you happier, or basically looking to get more done and have more fun at work - then stick with me. If not, please click unsubscribe below and you won't hear from me again! Many thanks and have a great weekend. -- Richard How to be a Happier Software EngineerPublished on March 12, 2024 It is incredibly powerful to realise that a single engineer can influence a team’s overall happiness and, by extension, their own happiness. But it can be frustrating sometimes can’t it? Sometimes, people just don’t get it, and sometimes, they don’t get you. Do you remember when you just built stuff? That feeling you get when… Read More »How to be a Happier Software Engineer
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Human DevOps
by Richard Bown
Join my newsletter for regular views and news about doing effective, essential human DevOps engineering. I dive into the human factors that make successful DevOps organizations and the teams and platforms at the heart of your socio-technical systems. From leadership to team setup, maximizing performance, tools and techniques.
When you turn up to work you have a choice. Your choice is to enjoy the work that's put in front of you or to fight the work. If you fight the work, then be sure you're up to the fight. Some weeks, you're just not in the shape to do the fight, so then leave it. Here's the always-interesting John Cutler talking to Hazel Weakly about software engineering. My favourite quote from Hazel: "Local choices move everything forward in the right direction. Can I give [people] the ability to make...
Is it just me, or is April turning out to be a complete stinker? The rain hasn't stopped, it's cold, and it feels more like October or November than it does at the start of spring. This feeling appears to be pervading work at the moment, too—I sense frustration bubbling under at every turn. We need some warm sunshine and a few days off before heading back to the grind. I have a short trip coming up and a few things to look forward to not least the just-announced Fast Flow Conference in London...
It's notable how trends take a long time to get moving, and suddenly, they seem everywhere. For the last month or so, I've been working for the Team Topologies organisation, helping them gather some knowledge about applying their ideas and techniques across the industry. I've been talking to agile and DevOps practitioners, consultants, and coaches, people who are using techniques in organisations to make them more humane, to make them more pleasant places to work, and to improve the flow of...