The Confident Commit Looking beyond dev productivity to increase speed ft. Brian Guthrie of Justworks
6 snips
Jul 18, 2025 
In this conversation, Brian Guthrie, the Director of Engineering at Justworks and a former ThoughtWorks consultant, emphasizes the importance of optimizing lead time for software delivery. He challenges traditional CI/CD practices, revealing how asynchronous pull requests can hinder speed to market. Brian shares insights from his 'Move Faster Manifesto' and discusses the advantages of trunk-based development. He advocates for a collaborative project management style that prioritizes learning and flexibility, while celebrating the human connection in engineering.
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Lead Time Is North Star Metric
- Lead time from conception to production is the essential metric to optimize for faster software delivery.
- Teams that obsess over shortening this lead time achieve significant competitive advantages and faster market delivery.
Prove & Rally for Speed
- To get people to embrace faster delivery, first prove it’s possible and then show it’s necessary.
- Lead with clear business constraints and rally teams around meeting those deadlines without overwork.
More Releases, More Hits
- Increasing the number of software releases grows the chances of hitting a successful feature.
- Shipping frequently accelerates business growth by enabling faster learning and pivots from customer feedback.
