After writing about how most of Big Tech does not use Scrum (does not mandate it/hire consultants) of course I get an influx of messages from Scrum and Agile / Agile 2 consultants offering how they could help.
I get that it’s business. But if it ain’t a problem… don’t fix it?
And I’m literally getting pages long messages on how I misunderstand Scrum (I’m a certified Scrum master lol) and how “Scrum can help you get the same results.”
From people who make a living charging for Scrum, of course.
I get it: it sucks if teams do just fine by themselves, without having to hire a coach for $X,XXX/ day to tell them what to do and how.
The future is increasingly not needing Cerified Project People to run a tech company.
If you’re not there yet: they can help… for a while.
My favorite is when I tell these ppl I know my Scrum as my trainer was one of the original Agile Manifesto founders (fact). And simper stuff worked better.
Response: “I tell my clients that Scrum is not a set of processes, but a mindset. If you were to hire me, for example…”
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When you ask "Why did Company build 7 of the same products that all failed?", it always starts with the current solution struggling. This is an opportunity. Not to fix - which doesn't get you promoted - but to start anew.
An all too real story about Promotion Driven Development:
1. Opportunity.
The PM identifies the opportunity as Company's current product(s) are struggling. The root cause? Incorrect positioning/not understanding new market dynamics.
Opportunity: build a new product that addresses all these issues (and can get the PM promoted)
2. Proposal.
The PM makes a business case and an investment ask. "If we fund a team of 10 engineers, 2 data scientists, 1 designer, and 1 PM, we can ship a new product in 12 months, and an MVP in 6. This will result in this many users/revenue/market share: 📈"
On equity: "Our CEO doesn't believe in awarding equity to employees b/c it creates the wrong types of incentives. People stay hoping for a payday."
I hear you. Companies that obviously did not get this memo include Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, FB, Tesla, Twitter, Slack...
... not to talk about most of the fastest moving & innovative startups.
What the same C-levels don't like to admit is how they *do* have large amounts of equity, and hoping for a payday is one of the many reasons they also stay.
My wife - transitioned to software engineering via a bootcamp - used to always be the only female in the engineering teams she worked at.
For the first time ever she now works on an all-women dev team and she says it is the best part of her job, finally not being the only one.
I’m gonna say it: from what I gather from her and talking with other women engineers, it sucks being the only one. Kept getting hit by biases, (micro)aggressions and having no one to talk it through with.
One minority on the team is a step forward, but it’s not yet diversity.
Some of the most diverse engineering teams are at small companies, that have very friendly interview processes.
Much of Big Tech is a place that scares anyone miles away with a heavyweight and stressful interview process where eg women rarely see another women on the panel.
“Is it easier to get into Big Tech / FANG as a senior engineer or as an engineering manager? It’s my goal to work there, but my startup has an opportunity for me to become a manager.”
I was a tech lead - managing a small team - at Skyscanner. Getting a senior engineer position at Uber was straightforward. I had management experience and asked if I could be considered for EM positions. The answer was no.
Now the advice to tailor your resume to the job description is great advice.
There is no “robot” filtering resumes, but if a position gets 500 applicants, the recruiter reviewing these will consider ones that *clearly* show you’re a match for the position. Make it easy for them!
Transcript from a C-level crisis meeting months after the "We've raised $700M at a $6B valuation" gigantic announcement at a tech company.
A story on why the no employee equity policy hurts at the worst time. Warning: painful read ahead.
CEO: "What do you mean we can't grow?"
CTO: "Hiring is tough, but that's not the biggest issue. People are leaving like flies."
CEO: "We just raised $700M. Surely money is not a problem."
COO: "Actually, the exit surveys show that money is exactly the issue. Our competitors offer 50-100% more compensation to devs."
CEO: "That must be wrong. How can they pay twice that much? I thought we're paying top of the market?"
CTO: "Actually, the data we bought was wrong. We were paying a good salary, but we were well below 50%th market percentile based on e.g this report: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/software-engin…