Isaac and Jeffrey discuss the mindset of writing your job out of existence. They explore the idea that being irreplaceable can be a trap and that making your current role disappear in a positive way is the key to career growth. They share examples of individuals who get stuck in repetitive tasks and fail to see the opportunity to transform their work. The conversation highlights the importance of reframing problems as opportunities for improvement and the need to overcome the fear of change. The...
May 24, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Jeffrey and Isaac discuss how to get started with shadowing people and solving their problems. They share their experiences and strategies for shadowing, including reaching out to the people you want to shadow, observing their tasks, and identifying areas for improvement. They emphasize the importance of shadowing during the onboarding process and the value of asking questions and challenging existing processes. They also highlight the benefits of building relationships and earning credibility b...
May 17, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss the topic of doing full rewrites when it comes to architecture. They explore a case where a client needed to move from a single EC2 instance to a more stable system with load-balanced instances. They discuss the parallels between rewriting code and rewriting architecture, and the challenges and risks involved.
May 10, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss the 'two clock problem' as a metaphor for software rewrites. They explain that adding a new system doesn't improve understanding if you don't know how the current system is wrong. They also emphasize that rewriting a system without understanding the current system is costly and may not be worth it. Instead, they suggest spending more time understanding and documenting the current system to mitigate the need for a rewrite.
May 03, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Company culture can have a significant impact on the style of code delivery. A rigid and bottlenecked code review process can slow down code delivery and create frustration. On the other hand, a collaborative and open culture can lead to faster and more efficient code delivery. It is important to strike a balance between code quality and speed of delivery. Perfect code that doesn't solve the problem is not useful, while imperfect code that is easy to change and improve can be valuable. When cons...
Apr 26, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In our new series 'fulfilling Fridays', Jeffrey shares a fulfilling software project he worked on at Guaranteed Rate, a mortgage broker company.
Apr 19, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss falsehoods that programmers believe about projects. They explore the misconception that the project will solve the stated problem, highlighting instances where the delivered software did not actually solve the problem. They also discuss the importance of understanding how the user will use the software and the need for clear communication and feedback loops to ensure that the project is on track. They emphasize that the success of a project is not solely determined by t...
Apr 12, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode, Isaac and Jeffrey discuss falsehoods that programmers believe about projects. They explore assumptions such as projects having defined beginnings and endings, the role of priorities in project work, and the importance of clear communication and feedback. They also touch on the challenges of working on successful projects that transition into ongoing maintenance and the consequences of failed projects that continue to exist. The conversation highlights the need for programmers to...
Apr 05, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss the flight to maintenance work as a safety option from the manager's perspective. They explore different perspectives on maintenance work and the value of taking on such work. They emphasize the importance of understanding the reality of the system and approaching maintenance work as an opportunity to solve real problems. They also discuss the role of accountability and changing the culture around maintenance work. The episode concludes with a discussion on the impact o...
Mar 29, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this conversation, Dustin Rea discusses the challenges faced by one of his clients who has a CRM. The CRM is built on a legacy codebase with issues in quality, scalability, and deliverability. The team has been working on improving the system, but there are still problems with emails, SMS, payments, and automations. The company is mission-driven and relies on the CRM to run their business, so rebuilding customer trust is crucial. They have made some improvements in infrastructure and email de...
Mar 22, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Isaac and Jeffrey celebrate the one-year anniversary of the podcast. They discuss the challenges of maintaining a consistent schedule and reflect on the evolution of topics covered in the past year. They also talk about running out of failure stories and the importance of finding interesting guests. The hosts discuss the concept of forcing functions for successful rewrites and the risks associated with rewrites. They also explore the idea of the Ship of Theseus and how it relates to software dev...
Mar 15, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Jeffrey and Isaac discuss the concept of ‘doing more with less.’ They explore the initial visceral reaction to this idea and highlight the importance of doing less of things that don't matter. The impact of layoffs and the need to work smarter, not harder, are also discussed. The hosts emphasize the value of having honest discussions and creating a culture of transparency. They caution against burnout and advocate for trimming the fat responsibly. The episode concludes with a reminder to acknowl...
Mar 08, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Jeffrey and Isaac discuss their stance on 'never rewriting' given the possibility of AI making rewriting faster, cheaper, and less risky. They explore the limitations of current AI capabilities and the potential benefits of AI-assisted refactoring. The conversation delves into the idea of using AI to write tests and improve code quality. They also discuss the challenges and opportunities of AI in language switching and high-performance code optimization. Overall, the episode highlights the evolv...
Mar 01, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Jeffrey and Isaac discuss how iteration can be a defense against micromanagement. They explore the reasons behind micromanagement, such as a lack of progress and fear, and how iteration provides observability and reassurance to managers. They emphasize the importance of breaking down nebulous projects into smaller deliverables and providing checkpoints to show progress.
Feb 23, 2024•11 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode, Isaac Askew interviews Ryan Cowan, a software engineering manager, about the perspective of managers on rewrites. They discuss the challenges of placating individual engineers who want to rewrite code, the role of managers in supporting engineers' ideas, and the frequency and success of large rewrites. Ryan shares a case study of data engineers rewriting a data pipeline and highlights the importance of understanding the root cause of concerns before deciding on a rewrite. They a...
Feb 16, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Isaac and Jeffrey provide strategies for working with colleagues who are emotionally committed to rewriting old and flawed code at their companies.
Feb 09, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Jonathan Stark joins as a guest to discuss the risks of hourly billing and the parallels between risk in a rewrite and in hourly billing.
Feb 02, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Isaac and Jeffrey explore the significance of maintenance work for developers, stressing its strategic value during uncertain periods like layoffs. They share personal experiences, highlighting how tackling these tasks can lead to trust, new opportunities, and a more impactful role within a team.
Jan 26, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Isaac and Jeffrey dissect the flaws in the interviewing process and offer valuable insights for both interviewers and interviewees. They discuss the broken aspects of traditional interviews, highlight the importance of resume tailoring, and share anecdotes about handling past job experiences during interviews. The episode serves as a guide for interviewers to improve the hiring process and for candidates to enhance their chances by navigating the pitfalls and maximizing opportunities.
Jan 19, 2024•45 min
Jeffrey & Isaac discuss why understanding how your company makes money can help you build products that solve the right problems.
Jan 12, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Jeffrey & Isaac discuss methods to clear out your recurring meetings and protect your time as new meetings get added to your calendar.
Jan 05, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Continuing our F*ck-Up Friday series, Jeffrey has another humorous story where he went out of his way to fix functionality to match the name of its function...with expensive results.
Dec 29, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this humorous holiday episode, Isaac and Jeffrey discuss ways to be the worst possible teammate in ways that won’t get you immediately terminated by HR. If you didn’t make the naughty list this year and want to lock it in next time, this episode is for you!
Dec 22, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Isaac and Jeffrey continue discussions around testing brownfield code, delving deeper into next steps and refactoring.Our ‘FlowSheet’ guide to help you with your testing and refactoring decisions: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64127dab7e53173c1e7c39a1/9d699636-4625-4fc3-862c-a66907fd47dc/Getting+Started+With+Brownfield+Code.png?format=2500w
Dec 15, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Brownfield code is existing code (rather than new code) that you might need to add tests for. Join us for a two-part episode on how to get started testing and refactoring existing applications.
Dec 08, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss ways to improve yourself outside of traditional means like college, courses, or reading.
Dec 01, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 30
A non technical story of deception, good deeds with terrible consequences, and weak HR.
Nov 24, 2023•8 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Sometimes an upgrade to a new version of a framework takes weeks or even months. What do you do when you need to make changes to areas that are being affected by the upgrade?
Nov 16, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Special Guest Aadil Farid joins us again to continue his discussion on the harsh realities he confronted when he led a team that computerized ticketing on India’s Railways in the 1980s.
Nov 09, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Special Guest Aadil Farid joins us to discuss the harsh realities he confronted when he led a team that computerized ticketing on India’s Railways in the 1980s.
Nov 03, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
