Essential Links in December 2023
This blog runs on Kirby 4 now. I watched quite a few publications around the release, the Release Show with Marc Thiele and Bastian Allgeier, as well as several 3rd party reports and shared experiences. I am genuinely impressed by the release process, the clarity of communication and the lightweight upgrading. Thanks, Kirby-Team.
This month, we have an early monthly reading list. I hope you all will find some time to lay back, relax, chill, reflect and refuel, before we jump into a beautiful 2024. Take this time to reflect on your life and pick out some stuff you are curious about and give it a try!
On developer productivity (a wrap-up)
There has been a lot of talk and blogging around developer productivity lately. The moment there was this article on developer productivity published on the McKinsey website, you could hear the daring cry from thousands of managers: "Finally!"
However, soon people that I respect very much and that for me have a holistic understanding of what it takes to build up a software development organization, came up with their own thoughts and published a response to the McKinsey article. Coming to the conclusion: Not so fast, McKinsey.
Now I found another article about researching developer productivity, written by a lot of people (with them was Nicole Forsgren, co-author of the book Accelerate, to my mind one of the best books about this topic). This article explores the full space of productivity around developing software, and, though dated to 2021, gives a great overview on that topic.
Supporting others
Every year I put some money at the side to support other content creators. This year I tried out substack and supported free writers, I licensed software with a "pay what you want" business model and I donated to some portals & websites, that do a tremendous job. In Germany, we have a news portal that is a voice of reason in an opinionated jungle of press releases when it comes to technology. If you want to support someone, consider donating to netzpolitik.org.
Writing
- If you want to do some screenwriting, consider the beat app. However, IA just published an IA Writer template for screenwriting. Give it a try!
- Technical writing has specific requirements. Here is a whole bunch of resources on Technical Writing.
Tools
- Cursor.sh is another AI/LLM-powered code editor.
- A canvas can liberate your thinking if you're stuck. Dave Gray published his extensive canvas collection.
- Here is a useful Kirby CMS Version 4 upgrade guide.
Inspiration
- I love to explore digital mind gardens. They are an inspiration booster.
- Consider setting up your mental gym. Here's how.
- About comics, panels and how to signal information in graphic novels.
- Jack Dorsey wants to overhaul performance management. Here's Michele Zanini with an alternative approach, that puts social behaviour into focus. Let's hear W. Edwards Deming stating his opinion on performance reviews (Attention! This article leads to a rabbit hole with Mr. Demings publications - dive in, if you have the time. It's worth it!)
Stories
Product Development and Strategy
- John Cutler with 4 dimensions for strategy, plans and roadmaps.
- Collaborative Product Strategy Development: A Case Study by Rian van der Merwe.
- Last year John Cutler released some system thinking tipps. Now Victor Cessan illustrated them beautifully.
- Lena Reinhard on how to liberate your team from inertia.
- Reinertsen's lottery - an activity to get feedback fast while shaping out products.
As you may know, I do not run statistics on this website, so I am pretty blind about my visitors. So - whoever you are, thanks for visiting here from time to time. I hope, some content was inspiring for you and I wish you a little bit time to rest and a great start into 2024.