In this episode, Adam reads book two in The Zen of Programming (1988) by Geoffrey James. This book is unlike any programming book you've encountered. So, let's try something new for the podcast to showcase this poignant, accurate, and funny book. This episode features folktales from the fabled zen Master Noa-Op.

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• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 The Zen of Programming by Geoffrey James
• ☕️ Small Batches #84 - Deming

Chapters

• (00:00) - The Zen of Programming: Book Two
• (00:21) - Introducing the Zen of Programming
• (01:09) - Support the Show
• (01:35) - Master Noa-Op
• (01:56) - Folktale One
• (02:46) - Folktale Two
• (04:46) - Folktale Three
• (06:29) - Folktale Four
• (07:26) - Folktale Five
• (08:11) - Folktalk Six
• (08:47) - Folktale Seven
• (09:50) - Folktale Seven
• (10:06) - Folktale Eight
• (11:16) - Folktale Nine
• (12:05) - The Small Batches Way

In this episode, Adam reads book two in The Zen of Programming (1988) by Geoffrey James. This book is unlike any programming book you've encountered. So, let's try something new for the podcast to showcase this poignant, accurate, and funny book. This episode features chronicles from the fabled zen Master Ninjei.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 The Zen of Programming by Geoffrey James

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:22) - The Zen of Programming
• (01:06) - Support the Show
• (01:31) - Master Ninjei
• (02:06) - Chronicle One
• (02:31) - Chronicle Two
• (03:14) - Chronicle Three
• (03:50) - Chronicle Four
• (04:36) - Chronicle Five
• (05:18) - Chronicle Six
• (05:35) - Chronicle Seven
• (06:07) - Chronicle Eight
• (06:41) - Chronicle Nine
• (08:42) - The Small Batches Way

In this episode, Adam reads the preface, forward, and introduction to The Zen of Programming (1988) by Geoffrey James. This book is unlike any programming book you've encountered. So, let's try something new for the podcast to showcase this poignant, accurate, and funny book.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Release It!"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 The Zen of Programming by Geoffrey James

Chapters

• (00:00) - The Zen of Programming - Intro
• (00:23) - The Book
• (01:50) - Foreword by Dr. C.P. Yu
• (03:59) - Introduction by Charlie (Chuck) Babbage
• (15:19) - Preface
• (18:05) - Outro

In this episode, Adam welcomes Dan Slimmon, an experienced Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) to discuss aspects of incident response and troubleshooting in software engineering. Dan explains his methodology for clinical troubleshooting, the importance of maintaining a common mental model, and techniques for leading effective incident response efforts. They also delve into the value of continuous ops reviews and ongoing mental model updates to prevent issues, emphasizing the need for structured processes and effective communication.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Release It!"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 🧑‍🎓 Dan's course on leading incidents (Code SMALLBATCHES24 for 24% off!)

Chapters

• (00:00) - Incidents & Operations
• (01:14) - Guest Welcome
• (01:40) - Dan's Career Journey
• (02:33) - Evolution of Tech Stacks
• (04:59) - Clinical Troubleshooting Explained
• (11:53) - Incident Response Fundamentals
• (17:41) - Effective Communication in Incidents
• (26:09) - Training for Incident Response
• (33:22) - The Essence of Incident Response
• (33:53) - Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Fixes
• (35:01) - The Firefighting Analogy in Software Incidents
• (37:11) - Postmortems: Learning from Incidents
• (42:14) - Building a Shared Mental Model
• (42:41) - Looking for Trouble: Proactive System Monitoring
• (47:59) - Ops Reviews: Continuous Improvement
• (54:37) - The Importance of Closing the Feedback Loop
• (59:40) - Final Thoughts and Resources

In this episode of Small Batches, host Adam Hawkins welcomes Alex Nesbitt, a strategy expert and member of the Flow Collective, to delve into the nuances of strategic thinking. The discussion covers different types of strategies, pro-tips on strategic thinking, and how strategy relates to the concept of flight levels.

Nesbitt shares insights from his extensive consulting career, touching on topics like identifying leverage points, the relationship between strategy and tactics, and why being strategic is often more critical than having a strategy. The episode also stresses the importance of having a clear vision, enabling organizational constraints, and the roles of resilience and maintenance in strategic planning. Alex mentions practical examples, resources, and tips to help software and business leaders enhance their strategic approach.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Playing to Win"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 Playing to Win by Lafely & Martin
• 📘 Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Rumelt
• 📘 The Effective Executive by Drucker
• 🧠 Effectuation Theory

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:17) - Alex's Background
• (04:52) - What is Strategy?
• (08:10) - The Shadow Strategy
• (12:56) - How to Practice Strategy
• (22:03) - Software Architecture & Strategy
• (25:33) - Strategy & Being Strategic
• (29:50) - Five Pillars of Strategic Thinking
• (34:46) - Pain of Bad Strategy
• (37:22) - Alex's Tip for Surviving Ambiquitous Strategy
• (38:38) - Strategy Deployment & Hoshin Kanri
• (42:47) - Tip of Software Development
• (48:03) - Alex's Recommend Resources
• (52:47) - Adam's Takeaway & Segue into AI
• (55:19) - Alex's Links
• (57:19) - Outro

Adam discusses strategy in preparation for the next episode.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Playing to Win"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 Playing to Win by Lafely & Martin

Chapters

• (00:00) - Playing to Win
• (00:46) - Flight Levels
• (01:53) - What is strategy?
• (03:45) - Strategy for SRE at Skillshare
• (05:16) - Outro

Adam discusses three (new-ish) ideas from time on a new gemba.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Modern Software Engineering"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 Flight Levels by Klaus Leopold

Chapters

• (00:00) - On the Gemba
• (00:22) - What's new
• (00:44) - Sequencing over Prioritization
• (03:44) - Flight Levels
• (05:11) - Thought Experiment
• (06:50) - Outro

Adam describes using Hexagonal Architecture, also known as Ports and Adapters, for software delivery excellence.

Want more?

• 🚀 New listener? Start with the introduction.
• 🎁 Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Modern Software Engineering"
• 🧭 Get the Small Batches Way guide to software delivery excellence
• 🥋 Software Kaizen: My One-on-One System for Engineering Leadership
• 📘 Hexagonal Architecture by Alistair Cockburn
• ☕️ Small Batches #17 with Dave Farley

Chapters

• (00:00) - Hexagonal Architecture
• (00:23) - Reflections on Ruby and Rails
• (01:41) - What is Hexagonal Architecture?
• (02:45) - The Repository Pattern
• (04:32) - Dependency Injection
• (06:43) - Thinking in Pipelines
• (08:03) - Development Environments
• (09:09) - Outro