As a software engineer, I find that there is always some major learning every few months. Some of these learnings are not specific to software engineering. Here are some non-obvious things I wish I knew when I started out: 1. Misaligned incentives are the root of all evil At a previous company, here is how … Continue reading Things I have learned about people and culture
I have a lot of friends who are keen to teach coding but don’t have information about all the amazing organizations that offer such opportunities. Thanks to the location, there are a lot of opportunities to teach coding in the Bay Area. So I am putting together this list to help folks find what they … Continue reading Coding-based volunteering opportunities in the Bay Area
Knowing when to take the lead and when to step aside. This is an incredibly hard skill to master and very very few managers are good at this. The reason why this is hard is that there are a lot of variables to take into account and that requires very high judgement and awareness. This … Continue reading The most important quality for an engineering manager
Pragmatism If I had to identify a repetitive theme in my career, it would be the following: Learn the best practices for doing X (by experience, talking to others, reading books etc)Do X a number of times following the best practicesIdentify the situations in which the best practices don’t make sense and ignore them in … Continue reading What is the hardest skill to teach in software engineering?
Most engineers start their careers feeling like they don’t belong or that they are not good enough. Imposter syndrome is very real and can have a serious effect on morale if not addressed early. There is a lot of bad advice out there when it comes to dealing with imposter syndrome. “Get over it”, “Fake … Continue reading How can engineers overcome imposter syndrome?
