Weight of Decisions
Hey!
Welcome back to another week of musings.
We're fully in the Fall around the city, with early sunsets and opportunities for nighttime photography! Hope you're staying warm. I hope you had a restorative weekend.
Was this forwarded to you? You can subscribe here!
Things I enjoyed in the past week
Record Everything! I liked this essay on what it means to have instant access to all these videos and pictures in our phones, computers, etc.
Is the Talk Show Dead? Interesting questions, and if we're at the end of an era.
As we grow in scope, we also grow in responsibility, and that means taking decisions that affect outside your immediate team.
As we get into leadership positions, that means that more of your role is mainly making decisions. But also you’re more responsible for the outcomes of said decisions. While we can learn from others, we also need to learn from our mistakes, showing up daily and getting better.
I was working through multiple projects, and people were asking why we chose X o Y, why we didn’t do Z? And I had to reply with the reasons, the available information at the time, etc. We have to stand behind our decisions and be accountable.
Growing Scope of Decisions
I recall having to review and address decisions in pull requests, and sometimes growing tired of explaining why I made certain decisions. Other times, I felt strongly about some choice in my code and wouldn't let go, even if someone told me otherwise.
Over time, I learned to be more pragmatic in my approach to code and code reviews. If it was understandable, it was tested, and it was good enough to only require a few comments or clarifying questions.
I also recall working on a greenfield project and making architectural decisions that will exist with the services until their sunset. I remember having to go back and forth with our principal engineer at the time regarding the choices and documenting why they would work.
The larger the scope, the greater the responsibility that accompanies that decision. Having to choose if this or that team will work on a feature, who will support it over time, and who will inherit it. Generally, we want to have enough information or ways to make most decisions two-way doors.
Decisions By Committee
One lesson learned over time has been that a decision by committee rarely works, and I understand that some key people might want to include "everyone", but at the end of the day, someone has to make a choice and be responsible for it. Otherwise, it's very easy to delay decisions and come up with any excuse not to make them, even if someone does not show up to the meeting, which means not concluding. If everyone is responsible, no one is.
So, if you're trying to expand your scope, I encourage you to make decisions and be prepared to take responsibility for them.
Your turn!
Have you felt pressure or opposition with any decision you've taken in your code, for your team, or even your organization? Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email!
Happy coding!
website | twitter | github | linkedin | mastodon | among others