Desenrascanço

Desenrascanço is a Portuguese word meaning the action to artfully disentangle oneself from a troublesome situation in an improvised, nonstandard manner. MacGyver utilized this skill every time he averted disaster with nothing but a bent paper clip and a chewing gum wrapper. We also do it with our code right before the deadline hits us.

The advice of the week: Make accomplishing things as easy as possible. Find the easiest way to start exercising. Find the easiest way to start writing. People make things harder than they have to be and get frustrated when they can’t succeed. Try not to.

Dealing with FOMO as an engineering leader

An excellent short article from Pat Kua on how to keep learning for leaders - it applies to everyone, but leaders tend to get way less ‘heads down, hands on the keyboard’ time.

An Extended Subtweet On Power

Explore the 3 kinds of power with Cat Swetel - it’s a much relevant topic in many contexts, but especially when we want to have an inclusive workplace.

How Berkshire Hathaway broke Nasdaq’s 32-bit code with its monster share price

Here’s a programming gremlin that caught our eye this week: a share price exceeded the 32-bit unsigned integer limit of a stock exchange’s code.

The 5 Common Mistakes Of New Engineering Managers

These are the most common mistakes of new engineering managers who just left their individual contributor track – learn how to fix them. From yours truly.

Replaceable

“Everyone is replaceable.” - I always had a bad feeling when I’ve heard or read this and not because of the fear of being replaced. It’s just not the right mindset. Leah Farmer argues that while people will come and go, we should celebrate their impact.

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