Organizations

The products built by any engineering organization typically reflect the organization structure and health. In my opinion, nothing can be as conducive to good work as a positive work climate in an organization where people feel empowered. At the same time, setting up an organization like that can be tricky, so I have been getting increasingly interested in various factors that influence our organizations, and how to steer them in the right direction. Below are some interesting resources I have come across, and also thought-provoking ideas that people may want to consider.

• An Elegant Puzzle - Systems of Engineering Management by Will Larson
• Paul Graham's Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule captures the effect of meetings on an engineer's day at work. There's certainly different kinds of roles and various kinds of meetings, but the general idea is still valid: engineers need large continuous chunks of time to get things done.
• Three-day no-meeting schedule for engineers
• Get happy developers to do what you want by Jessica Kerr talks about how removing friction is the right way to get people to do things, instead of settings rules or (potentially misguided) incentives.