Developer Tea Podcast Por Jonathan Cutrell capa

Developer Tea

Developer Tea

De: Jonathan Cutrell
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Sobre este áudio

 Developer Tea exists to help driven developers connect to their ultimate purpose and excel at their work so that they can positively impact the people they influence. With over 17 million downloads to date, Developer Tea is a short podcast hosted by Jonathan Cutrell, engineering leader with over 15 years of industry experience. We hope you'll take the topics from this podcast and continue the conversation, either online or in person with your peers. Email: developertea@gmail.com2025 Jonathan Cutrell Ciências Sociais Economia Sucesso na Carreira
Episódios
  • Second Order Consequences and Forcing Functions

    Second Order Consequences and Forcing Functions
    Aug 22 2025
    Todays episode delves into understanding and leveraging second and third-order consequences – the ripple effects that occur after an initial action – and introduces forcing functions, which are an inverted way of thinking about these consequences, designed to drive desired outcomes by first determining "what must be true" for them to occur. The episode also connects these concepts to the importance of effective goal setting, explaining how well-defined goals provide clarity, focus, and a strategic framework for decision-making and career advancement.Grasp Second and Third-Order Consequences: Learn to identify the downstream effects of initial actions. For instance, setting a target for test coverage (first action) might lead to people adding tests that don't genuinely test anything but merely inflate the metric (second-order consequence), potentially resulting in disillusionment with testing or continued incidents despite high coverage (third-order consequence). Conversely, giving someone ownership or autonomy (first action) can lead to them proactively filling out details and owning ambiguity (second-order consequence), which may result in higher quality work, freeing up managerial time, and setting the individual up for promotion (third-order consequence).Utilise Forcing Functions for Desired Outcomes: Understand forcing functions as an inverted approach to consequences, where you begin with a desired outcome and then identify the upstream requirements or desirable effects that must be true for that outcome to be achieved. This method helps to focus efforts on one to three key areas for improvement, rather than trying to enhance everything simultaneously.Implement Effective Forcing Functions: Discover how various elements can act as deliberate or accidental forcing functions:A prioritised backlog acts as a forcing function for essential discussions, decision-making, gathering sufficient information for prioritisation, and ensuring knowledgeable individuals are involved in the process.Presentations, demos, or all-hands meetings serve as powerful social forcing functions, as the desire to avoid the discomfort of not having progress to show incentivises action and preparation.Sprint planning is a forcing function that necessitates a clear understanding of priorities and team capacity for the upcoming sprint.Quality metrics or Service Level Agreements (SLAs), such as a P95 response time, act as forcing functions by requiring other system components to be correctly aligned to meet the target.The choice of technology or tech stack can be a significant forcing function for hiring, unintentionally selecting for specific types of engineers (e.g., Java for enterprise experience, TypeScript for full-stack, functional languages for functional programming experience).Workplace restrictions, like requiring night availability, can be accidental forcing functions, potentially selecting against individuals with community involvement, family commitments, or social lives.Successful hiring and recruiting is a strong forcing function for many positive aspects of a company, indicating technical success, high retention, competitive salaries, and a high standard for talent across the organisation.Harness Goals for Clarity and Focus: Recognise that a well-positioned goal is paramount for finding clarity, perspective, and purpose in your career. Goals provide a framework to make decisions about what to do, ensuring your time is spent on what matters to you rather than just on tasks handed to you, thereby enabling personal career growth.Set Relevant and Directionally Correct Goals: Emphasise the relevance of your goals; even if they are specific, measurable, actionable, and time-bound (SMART), they are ineffective if they are not relevant to your desired career path. Aim for goals that are directionally correct, moving you generally towards a long-term outcome (e.g., leading a project if your long-term aspiration is to lead teams), rather than being paralysed by the pursuit of a "perfect" goal.Leverage Manager Feedback for Goal Setting: If you are unsure how to set goals, consider what your boss would look for in your performance in six months. Proactively engage your manager by initiating conversations about career growth and goal setting, framing it as an opportunity for mutual success and seeking their input on what constitutes a "home run" for your role.Set Sustainable and Challenging Goals: Avoid goals that are too abstract (lacking clear actions) or that significantly over- or underestimate your capacity, as both can lead to disengagement. Instead, strive for challenging but sustainable goals that require focus and making difficult choices (e.g., saying "no" to other things) but do not lead to burnout.Be Mindful of Your Choices: Deliberately choose your forcing functions and become aware of those you are accidentally opting into. Consistently consider the downstream effects (second and third-order consequences) of ...
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    24 minutos
  • Don't Try to Solve Hyperobject Problems Once

    Don't Try to Solve Hyperobject Problems Once
    Aug 17 2025

    This episode delves into the philosophical concept of hyperobjects – problems so vast and complex they lack clear boundaries and cannot be "solved" once and for all. It explores why attempting to permanently fix issues like technical debt, user experience, or performance management is often ineffective. Instead, it offers a new perspective: how to interact with and manage these intractable problems by focusing on specific outcomes and accepting their ongoing nature.

    • Understand hyperobjects as problems that extend beyond clear boundaries and time, such as technical debt or performance management, which cannot be truly "solved".
    • Discover why a "one-time fix" approach is an anti-pattern for hyperobjects, as their dynamic nature means solutions must also be continuous.
    • Learn to shift your mindset from "solving" to "interacting" with these large, persistent problems, focusing on managing their effects rather than trying to contain them.
    • Explore the importance of focusing on specific, achievable outcomes and taking "snapshots" of the problem's current state, acknowledging that the hyperobject itself will continue to evolve.
    • Recognise that language and conceptualisation play a crucial role in framing and addressing these intractable challenges within your work and organisation.
    📮 Ask a Question

    If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com..

    📮 Join the Discord

    If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today! It's totally free, and always will be, for people who listen to this show.

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    16 minutos
  • Behavior Change 101: Trigger, Incentive, and Ability

    Behavior Change 101: Trigger, Incentive, and Ability
    Aug 10 2025

    This episode delves into a powerful model for encouraging behaviour change, applicable to both managing others and self-improvement, by focusing on three critical factors: Trigger, Incentive, and Ability. It challenges common, ineffective management approaches and provides insights into fostering new habits and desired actions by making the 'right' thing the 'easy' thing.

    • Uncover why naive management approaches, such as mandating rules or blaming individuals, are ineffective at solving underlying behavioural problems or creating new, lasting habits.
    • Learn about the Trigger, Incentive, and Ability model, a set of principles that can be applied to encourage specific actions in others or to facilitate self-betterment and incorporate new behaviours into your own life.
    • Understand that Incentives are the critical factor in deciding what actions to pursue, driven by the question, "what's in it for me?". It's crucial for incentives to be clear and understood; an unclear incentive is effectively no incentive at all. Beneficial incentives tend to be more effective from a scientific standpoint.
    • Discover the importance of a clear Trigger, which is the cross point or moment at which a decision to act is made. Assuming triggers will be self-generated is often a flawed management practice, especially when encouraging new behaviours.
    • Explore how Ability goes beyond just skill, encompassing clarity on how to do something and the reduction of friction and variability in the desired behaviour. The goal is to reduce cognitive overload and make the desired action the easiest option, thereby facilitating habit formation.
    • Realise the interconnection between Ability and Incentive, as a lack of clarity in how to perform a task (Ability) can make the incentive unclear because the reward for completion becomes uncertain.
    • Learn that the investment in encouraging behaviour change should focus on creating a better trigger, a better (and clearer) incentive, and higher ability (lower friction, higher skill) to ensure people engage in the desired behaviour.
    📮 Ask a Question

    If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.

    📮 Join the Discord

    If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!

    🧡 Leave a Review

    If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.
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    20 minutos
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