Ward Cunningham’s concept of technical debt should forever be held in high esteem. His easy-to-understand metaphor unlocked meaningful discussions on the risks and impact of technical trade-offs in software development. It enabled the expression of ideas and concerns many technologists had previously struggled to convey. Its positive impacts over…
A recent discussion in the Rands Leadership Slack helped me frame a problematic behavior I’ve repeatedly observed as a manager: ticket-driven development. [1] Early in my career, when I worked at large, legacy organizations, ticket-driven development was the norm. While I’ve observed it less and less as agile…
In the Rands Leadership Slack, a member recently asked about resolving the tension between psychological safety and the needs of the business when it came to splitting a team: How do you balance, as an engineering manager, the trade-off between * building a team that feels very psychologically safe, where everyone…