Andrew Bosworth shares his experience that was his wake up call. After having his job changed and team feedback given to him, he reflected on his attitudes and made changes. Not only is this a great story because he had the wisdom to look within and own up to his failings. It's also encouraging to see a friend (and boss) be willing to gently admonish and promote the change. That's true friendship! I love that he includes a caveat in the last paragraph: > I’m still not as good as I’d like to b…
Laura Shenck shares a personal anecdote about the issues she faced regarding job titles. Her story includes applying for a role that was titled one way, then being tested in a manner befitting a role of another type. Why do we seem to struggle so much with titles in our industry? I suspect it's due partly to the rapid pace at which the Internet has evolved, the underlying technologies, tools, and frameworks shifting constantly so that those who build things for the web are ever learning. While…
John Herman has some astute observations about Slack and how it's changing office culture. As people migrate to it from other options, there's no denying it feels better. But that may not necessarily be healthy. As Mr. Herman states > But the thing about Slack that gives you that low dread of unstoppable acceleration is how fully it encompasses how you talk to coworkers … And the problem with this: > Slack allows, in the most extreme cases, for a full performance of work—the clocking in, the…
Ben Horowitz talks about both the importance of training your team and how to set up a training plan. This is such a vital part of building an effective team, yet it blows the mind to see how little thought many companies put into it. Big and small. Ben nails it: > Almost everyone who builds a technology company knows that people are the most important asset. And: > Training is, quite simply, one of the highest-leverage activities a manager can perform. Well said. Who should be doing this tra…
Elea Chang makes the case for focusing less on any new titles for workers, especially tech workers. Her thoughts are a response to Chris Messina’s glorification [https://medium.com/@chrismessina/the-full-stack-employee-ed0db089f0a1] of the employee who gets it all, from ideation, to strategy, to the technology that enables it all to happen. I love Elea’s point here: > Unfortunately, the continuous pursuit of professional skillsets tends to diminish the boundaries between work and everything e…
A summary of the tools available for self publishing in 2015 and what I use for this site.
Gumroad has published a guide for self publishing. Who isn’t interested in self publishing in 2015? If you publish your own writing of any sort online, there’s a good chance that you’ve entertained the idea of putting out a book. This guide from the Gumroad team covers formats, then the tools that you can use to produce your book. Sadly, the list is a little lacking. Many writing apps today, such as Ulysses [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/ulysses], do a nice job of preparing your content for…
Such a good topic to consider. If you’re running a company and you want employees to believe yours is the best they’ve ever worked for, how will you make that a reality? If you’re hoping perks [http://email.chrisbowler.com/t/j-73B8DAF9338A9C47] are the answer … I strongly believe you hire people for who they can be, not who they are. This should permeate your thinking as you write job postings, review applicants, and talk with potential (and current) employees. It’s not enough to offer unlimite…