The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Leading GitHub to a $7.5 billion acquisition (Interview)

May 18, 2020

Jason Warner, CTO at GitHub, played a pivotal role in leading the company to its $7.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft. He shares insights on trusting gut feelings over data, the importance of long-term vision, and innovativeproject strategies. Warner discusses the evolution of GitHub Actions for enhanced efficiency, navigating remote work dynamics, and balancing career ambitions with family life. He also highlights the significance of leadership in tech and recommends impactful books for personal development and team growth.

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INSIGHT

Impactful Decisions

Consider if a decision significantly impacts the entire software ecosystem.
Prioritize changes that meaningfully improve software development for a broad audience.

ADVICE

Startup Advice

Be explicit about company culture, processes, and product direction.
Many things will feel subpar in a startup, and that's acceptable if managed intentionally.

INSIGHT

Defining Hypergrowth

Hypergrowth is characterized by organic growth.
Ideally, product adoption increases rapidly while organizational scaling remains relatively flat.

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The Advantage

Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business

Patrick Lencioni

In 'The Advantage', Patrick Lencioni makes a compelling case that the key to a company's success lies in its organizational health rather than its intelligence or technological prowess. He argues that healthy organizations, characterized by a cohesive leadership team, clear strategy, effective communication, and a unified culture, outperform their counterparts. Lencioni identifies three biases (the Sophistication Bias, the Adrenaline Bias, and the Quantification Bias) that prevent leaders from focusing on organizational health. The book provides a practical model for achieving organizational health, including four disciplines: building a cohesive leadership team, creating clarity, overcommunicating clarity, and reinforcing clarity through systems and practices. Lencioni draws on his extensive experience consulting with leading organizations to offer stories, tips, and anecdotes that illustrate the importance of organizational health in today's fast-changing business environment.

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones. The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results. Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation. The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth[2][4][5].

Extreme ownership

How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

Leif Babin

Jocko Willink

This book by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin focuses on the principle of 'Extreme Ownership,' where leaders take full responsibility for their actions and decisions. The authors use their experiences in the U.S. Navy SEALs to illustrate how this mindset can lead to success in any organization. The book covers various principles such as believing in the mission, checking ego, and leading by example. It emphasizes that leaders must own all failures, develop plans to overcome them, and ensure their teams are well-conditioned and aligned with the mission. The authors also stress the importance of humility, discipline, and effective communication in leadership[1][2][4].

Team of Teams

New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

Stanley McChrystal

In 'Team of Teams', General Stanley McChrystal and his co-authors share insights on how to lead organizations effectively in a complex and rapidly changing world. Drawing from McChrystal's experiences commanding the Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq, the book highlights the need to move from traditional hierarchical structures to a more decentralized 'team of teams' approach. This involves fostering common purpose, shared consciousness, empowered execution, and trust among team members. The book uses historical and contemporary examples, including military and business scenarios, to illustrate how this approach can enhance organizational adaptability and success.

Essentialism

The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Greg McKeown

In 'Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,' Greg McKeown argues that by applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, individuals can regain control of their time and energy. The book is divided into sections such as Explore, Eliminate, and Execute, providing practical advice on distinguishing the vital few from the trivial many and eliminating non-essential activities. McKeown emphasizes the importance of clarity of focus, the ability to say 'no,' and living 'by design, not by default.' This approach helps readers achieve more by doing less and making the highest possible contribution in their personal and professional lives.

High Output Management

Andrew S. Grove

High Output Management is a seminal book by Andrew S. Grove that outlines his management and productivity concepts developed during his tenure at Intel. The book introduces the 'management by objectives' approach, also known as the objectives and key results (OKR) framework. It covers techniques for creating highly productive teams, methods of motivation, and the importance of measurable processes, performance reviews, and training. Grove emphasizes the role of managers in leading and motivating teams, and his book is praised for its practical advice and timeless relevance in various professions and industries.

The hard thing about hard things

building a business when there are no easy answers

Ben Horowitz

In this book, Ben Horowitz shares his personal and often humbling experiences in the tech industry to offer essential advice and practical wisdom. He addresses various hard decisions and challenges that business leaders face, such as firing friends, managing company culture, handling layoffs, and making tough strategic decisions. Horowitz emphasizes the importance of honesty, resilience, and adaptability in leadership, drawing from his experiences with companies like Loudcloud and Andreessen Horowitz.

Team of Rivals

The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin

This book is a multiple biography centered on Abraham Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. It explores how Lincoln, despite being a one-term congressman and prairie lawyer, rose to become president by incorporating his rivals—William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates—into his cabinet. The book details Lincoln's extraordinary ability to understand and empathize with others, which enabled him to create an unusual but effective cabinet. It also delves into the challenges Lincoln faced, including incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and the internal dynamics of his cabinet, highlighting his political genius and managerial skills[1][3][5].

Jason Warner (CTO at GitHub) joined the show to talk with us about the backstory of how he helped to lead GitHub to a $7.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft. Specifically how they trusted their gut not just the data, and how they understood the value they were bringing to market. We also talk about Jason’s focus on “horizon 3” for GitHub, and his thoughts on remote work and how they’re leading GitHub engineering today.

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Featuring:

Jason Warner – GitHub, LinkedIn, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

GitHub’s CTO on architecting engineering teams that scale
Current stats – 40M+ developers with 100M+ repos
Go back in time to hear our reactions to Microsoft buying GitHub - “The news is true. Microsoft is acquiring GitHub.”
The Changelog #331: GitHub Actions is the next big thing with Kyle Daigle

Jason’s book recommendations:

Atomic Habits by James Clear
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Team of Teams by Gen. Stanley McChrystal
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
High Output Management by Andrew Grove

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!