Tips & Thoughts

All the tips & thoughts I've posted.

• Prioritize systems over solo effort

  I once believed I could handle every engineering challenge on my own. I chose to rely on my own effort instead of building efficient systems and relying on my teams. This was a mistake.

  Attempting to do everything yourself creates a dependency on a single person, which limits the team’s output and leads to your own burnout. This method is not sustainable and prevents the team from developing and growing. It failed because a team’s progress depends on shared processes, not one person’s work ethic.

  Your primary role as a leader is to develop the infrastructure your team needs to succeed.

  Build systems and work with teams instead of doing everything alone. Your time is better spent creating well-defined procedures and clear communication, not just writing code.

  The goal is to create a department that can operate effectively without your direct involvement in every task. That is the only way to achieve consistent results.

• Focus on results, a flawless process is meaningless without them

  Achieving results is what truly matters, and I learned it hard way.

  Imagine a team that follows every step of a project plan perfectly but delivers a product that fails to meet business or customer needs.

  Despite their flawless process, the outcome is mediocre.

  In contrast, another team faced challenges, adapted on the fly, and delivered a product that makes customers happy and bumps company’s metrics up.

  Their process wasn’t perfect, but the result was a success.

  The takeaway?

  Good process is important, but it should not overshadow the ultimate goal - deliver results!

  ⛑️

• Embrace the audacious and dare to redefine the possible.

  Audacious ideas, like landing a human on the moon or creating the internet, inspire people by challenging norms and offering a vision of a better future.

  They foster collaboration and resilience, uniting individuals to overcome obstacles and achieve the seemingly impossible.

  For instance, the Apollo program brought together hundreds of scientists, engineers, and astronauts to accomplish the monumental task of lunar exploration.

  Similarly, the development of the internet required cooperation among researchers, engineers worldwide, leading to a revolution in communication and technology.

  Audacious ideas motivate people!

  Achieving a challenging yet significant goal is more manageable for a team than accomplishing an easy task with little significance.

  ¬‿¬

• Prioritize speed in your tasks

  Rapid action means more interactions with reality, leading to faster learning.

  Speed forces focus on essentials, eliminating distractions.

  When you are in a hurry, you don’t have time to waste on unimportant details.

  Think about your desired outcome, and focus on the most important tasks that will get you there.

  But… it also depends on the context.

  Some tasks require constant shift to the right direction and slow and steady progress will be the right approach.

  When you read The Tortoise and the Hare fable, you can see that both approaches have their place.

  I believe that your time is a precious resource, so use it wisely.

• Fight bureaucracy anytime you face it

  Bureaucracy = lots of rules making simple things complex.

  Make a habit of yours to challenge unnecessary complexity and red tape.

  If you can encourage others to do the same, you will find things move faster around.

  Set collaboration as your main priority over organizational barriers.

  I’m sure you are going to see a lot of resistance, but it’s worth it; people will work productively together.