00:13:02 · Benjamin Mann
[00:13:02] S5: At huge scales of millions and millions of daily users, even 0.01%, it's a lot of people that you affect. Sometimes, especially engineers that are a bit longer in the organization, they need a gentle reminder of that mind switch, not because they don't care, but simply they forget how big you become. And that's why this over communicating becomes really important. I think one very helpful skill to have as a CTO, you gotta be really at home in chaos because you will have a lot of random things popping up. Position of a food delivery company on the outset of COVID was an interesting one because user demand spiked overnight. Governments all of a sudden had very concrete ideas what you need to do and what you have to do to provide for the society and what you should do. The business has very strong ideas of where to handle the growth that's come and how to handle the demand. And very likely, the platforms have not been built for this growth. Right? So what the challenge was multiple at the time. A, how do we ensure that our platform, overnight become an essential service for a lot of people, right, people really couldn't go out and needed food, it becomes from a luxury thing to a really essential service for survival. That completely also changes the game on reliability. Right? You cannot be down then all of a sudden, while at the same time, balance... Accepting the fact that we now have a growth in usage for which the platform was not built. So the first couple of months in foodpanda, the main mission was, okay. Let's make sure that we keep that service up and running, right, even if it's a bit rough around the edges, and let's make sure that we deliver the things in the time that we need them where it's most critical. Right? And let's ensure that whatever curveball comes from the side, like, for example, one government deciding starting tomorrow, you don't accept cash payments anymore, only electronic payments. Okay. Tomorrow is a bit short in terms of implementing something. Right? So simply handling with all of this. So the first couple months were chaotic. The second one, how to deal with technical debt, technical debt being either architectural legacy or core qualities or whatnot that you need to fix is I try to teach people to look at it from the angle of what happens if you don't fix it. Right?
00:15:21 · Benjamin Mann
Where's the point in time where this impacts your business negatively under which conditions? And then have an eye level conversation with your business stake holder about where should that point be and and when is the right time to fix it. The engineers struggle with quantifying this a little bit, which makes it hard then because then you get into this discussion. Oh, it's technical debt, but is it really important? Can we fix it maybe quarter? And by having this continuous discussion about when in time this particular technical debt will become a problem for the organization and for the business result, you take a lot of this vagueness out. Right? I think one thing is above everything is as a software engineer, you need to have an unbelievable laser focus on the experience that you give to your customer because I fundamentally believe in order to have a successful business, you first need to provide outstanding experience to the customer. No matter what the product is, no matter what the industry is, I don't think you can build a long lasting profitable great business without taking care of the experience of your customer first. Sometimes our engineers forget that a little bit in the heat of timelines and complex requirements or unclear even situations that your intent to jump into troubleshooting mode before you've really understood what the trouble is. I mean, it's our job as engineering leaders to always bring them back and say, okay. What problem are we trying to solve for the customer here? Let's figure out really what the problem is first and then think about how we solve it. Sometimes we tend to skip the clear definition of the what the problem is start with the how we're gonna solve it, and I think that's dangerous. Be very open minded and just be very positive and try a lot of things. In my almost twenty years of managing people in various sizes that very often think, can we succeed outside of our country? My experience with everyone who tried is yes. Don't give in to that almost imposter kind of syndrome that asks you like, am I good enough to succeed in the outside world? Because I can guarantee you from my personal experience, yes, you are. And there's not even a question of a doubt around that.
00:17:50 · S2, S3, S7, S8, S9
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00:18:36 · S9, S0, S10, S6
Ad[00:18:36] S9: It's officially the holiday season, and Abercrombie's new collection has outfits for everything on your calendar. It's the busiest time of year, and between shopping and party invites, I don't have time to plan every look. But Abercrombie's always got me covered. Their sweaters are the perfect easy layer for low key plans, and on a nice night out, I'm reaching for their classic trousers. Fill your closet with the pieces you'll need all season long. Have a very Abercrombie holiday. Shop in the app, online, and in stores. Ad[00:19:05] S0: With the score tied Afternoon glare totally ruined my watch party for the big game. That's when my buddy recommended blinds.com. Ad[00:19:13] S10: With custom window treatments made to fit your style, space, and Ad[00:19:16] S6: budget, customers who shop at Ad[00:19:18] S10: blinds.com experienced overwhelming satisfaction. Side effects may include a fuller, deeper night's sleep and the sudden urge to host the watch party again. Blinds.com isn't a medication, but it Ad[00:19:28] S6: can improve how you feel about your home. Ad[00:19:30] S0: Shop Black Friday all month long at blinds.com. Don't miss huge deals dropping every week.
00:19:30 · S0, S11
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