Max Kanat-Alexander

Max Kanat-Alexander, the Tech Lead for the Developer Productivity and Insights Team at LinkedIn, shares an inside look at LinkedIn’s metrics platform and how teams across the organization use it. Discussion points: (1:31) Why Max shares how his team is measuring productivity(3:20) Why some teams use metrics and some don’t (6:03) The types of metrics Max’s team focuses on(12:59) The role of TPMs(17:05) How Max would measure productivity if he weren’t at LinkedIn(25:04) Surprises in how teams are using metrics at LinkedIn(31:27) The tooling required to enable metrics for teams to use(36:41) Qualitative versus quantitative metrics(40:39) Measuring code quality at Google (46:16) Whether a centralized team should own measurementMentions and links:Connect with Max on LinkedIn or TwitterRead the article, Measuring Developer Productivity and Happiness at LinkedInListen to the first interview with Max and his colleague Or Michael Berlowitz: Episode 23Abi’s blog post on the Three-Bucket Framework for Engineering Metrics

Max Kanat-Alexander and Or Michael Berlowitz discuss gathering real-time and periodic feedback from developers. They cover listening channels, volume metrics, building surveys, handling results, and the real-time feedback tool. They share experiences, advice, and insights on implementing this approach for developer engagement.

Max Kanat-Alexander, an Executive Distinguished Engineer at Capital One with a rich background from Google and LinkedIn, dives into developer productivity. He reveals common pitfalls for initiatives aimed at boosting it, emphasizing the need to truly understand developers’ challenges. The conversation contrasts individual versus team productivity, critiques the 'ticket-taker' culture that hampers software quality, and discusses the implications of AI on coding. Max also shares valuable advice for junior engineers to grasp core principles amidst evolving technology.