Beyond Coding

What stuck with me from this chat with Nana is that curiosity and hunger for learning & sharing will bring you further than anything else. In her case, learning Kubernetes and AWS and sharing that knowledge eventually lead to becoming Docker Captain, AWS Hero & CNCF Ambassador. Those were never goals, but always a result of focussing on efforts. In doing so she managed to grow a YouTube community of 700k subs. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Nana Janashia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-janashia https://twitter.com/Njuchi_ https://www.techworld-with-nana.com https://www.youtube.com/c/techworldwithnana Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/KFZjl1gofXs New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:31 - Who does what on the YouTube channel 00:00:59 - How Nana started on YouTube 00:03:15 - Split responsibilities 00:04:34 - How Nana got into DevOps technologies 00:08:19 - Nana's first Kubernetes experience 00:13:47 - Accommodating for requirements 00:14:30 - Trial and error with Kubernetes early on 00:16:10 - How to make it run & how to make it right 00:20:46 - How Nana stays on top of production level knowledge 00:25:56 - Nana's love for teaching and simplifying 00:29:20 - The difference between DevOps and SRE 00:33:07 - SRE and DevOps engineers in teams 00:36:55 - Cloud Engineers in a seperate team 00:38:44 - Different solutions 00:39:31 - the DevOps is dead controversy 00:42:00 - Docker Captain, AWS hero and CNCF ambassador 00:43:21 - Nana's YouTube channel goals 00:44:56 - Focussing on efforts 00:46:03 - Nana's early in career advice 00:48:04 - You take learnings with you 00:51:29 - Curiosity and learning new things

We're back with another Q&A episode! 🙌 Had a blast answering your questions 😁 Let me know if I should do more of these 💬 Xebia Essentials: Resource about Software Development Done Right (not for sale): https://essentials.xebia.com/cards Books & Resources by Pat Kua: https://www.patkua.com/blog/book-recommendations-by-engineering-leaders Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/IqcFUeOJ3qE New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Getting ready 00:00:39 - What was your first software development job experience? 00:04:22 - Do you have any tips or advice for new engineers entering the field? 00:07:39 - Is a degree actually required, or are skills enough? 00:09:50 - Drink water advice 00:09:59 - How does a junior developer get their first job? 00:13:39 - What books / resources would you recommend to improve problem solving? 00:17:13 - What resources and practises did you use to improve your problem solving skills? 00:20:42 - What motivates you in your career? 00:24:14 - What is some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten on the podcast? 00:28:38 - What is your new year's resolution for the podcast? 00:30:49 - How do you stay motivated in doing the podcast? 00:32:21 - Do you think you will ever run out of topics for the podcast? 00:34:30 - What is your advice for those that are thinking of starting a podcast? 00:36:19 - Who is your main inspiration in life? 00:38:06 - Mic drop

“If people see you as a leader in a good way, then you’re doing a good job as a manager” Having been a manager at Oracle for 20+ years, Wim shares his unique experience on leadership, how to inspire and how to add value as a manager. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Wim den Besten: https://www.wimdenbesten.nl https://www.linkedin.com/in/wim-den-besten-9635b4 https://twitter.com/wimdenbesten Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/hXvytR0UuiA New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:30 - Investing in people 00:01:35 - Early learnings as manager 00:03:59 - Wim's advice to managers & leaders 00:06:16 - Situational Coaching 00:08:08 - Hiring for diversity 00:13:03 - The next step for someone 00:17:33 - How to inspire people 00:19:44 - Dealing with people 00:22:26 - Wim's drive as manager 00:25:49 - Not being able to add value 00:27:48 - Hard times and pressure 00:29:30 - Transparency and honesty 00:32:47 - Delegating 00:34:35 - Decision making 00:36:54 - Micromanagement 00:39:11 - Getting feedback as manager 00:42:33 - Salary conversations

Sabine shares how to give presentations people will remember. How to leverage storytelling, stay authentic and create your content in a goal-oriented way. On top of that we discuss the importance of personal branding and being more visible. Both for employees and organisations. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Sabine Wojcieszak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabineberneckerbendixen https://twitter.com/SabineBendixen Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/SV6tneTIdSE New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:32 - Personal branding becoming more important 00:04:10 - A company can have multiple faces 00:05:30 - Bad preparation 00:07:49 - 2 perspectives on a presentation 00:09:29 - The presentation is for the audience 00:10:47 - Finding a sparring partner 00:12:28 - How important is the storyline? 00:13:51 - Visuals are what we remember 00:15:51 - 2 usecases for slides 00:17:50 - What people struggle with in public speaking 00:19:45 - Human beings on stage 00:20:49 - Nervousness 00:22:24 - Being authentic on stage 00:24:42 - Looking outside in 00:25:41 - Should everyone be more visible? 00:26:37 - Sabine's love for presentations 00:28:16 - Sabine's first conference talk 00:29:29 - Getting feedback 00:30:55 - What feedback has stuck with Sabine 00:34:06 - Team goals vs. personal goals 00:36:46 - Transparency 00:37:32 - How can organisations facilitate more w.r.t. personal branding? 00:40:58 - Just try it

James shares how developer advocacy experience and content creation has helped him throughout his career, especially early on. Next to that, we discuss the difference between a job and a career, motivation and passion. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with James Q Quick: https://www.jamesqquick.com https://twitter.com/jamesqquick https://www.learnbuildteach.com https://www.youtube.com/@JamesQQuick Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/tdvuAbc7P7U New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:25 - Finding your voice 00:01:41 - James's experience as evangelist 00:03:05 - Content strategies 00:04:57 - Consistency vs. Quality 00:07:08 - Listening to feedback 00:10:56 - Feedback that has stuck with James 00:15:44 - James's early in career experience 00:19:29 - Job vs. Career 00:20:42 - Comparing yourself to others 00:26:35 - From evangelist to full-time programming 00:29:51 - Stepping away from the developer role 00:32:07 - Content creators are at the forefront 00:36:56 - Advocating for yourself 00:37:44 - Work ethic 00:40:20 - Work life balance 00:44:10 - Flexibility and overworking 00:48:02 - Advice for early in career in tech 00:50:37 - Changing teams and companies 00:53:40 - Make sure you're happy 00:56:16 - Last thoughts

Tailoring to a user group which hasn't traditionally been tailored much to, Emilie aims to create the biggest sex-positive marketplace in the world with Konfettie!  Like any other founder, she's had to overcome challenges, but not everyone deals with being slandered and banned from social media. The way she picks back up in the face of adversity is admirable and I'm really happy she's sharing her learnings along the way. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Emilie Wiersma: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/emiliewiersma https://twitter.com/sextechsavvy Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/Pz3xe4Y10cA New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:28 - Emilie has 3 mentors 00:03:47 - Emilie's first business 00:05:24 - Not working for a boss 00:06:37 - Creating fantasies for people 00:09:37 - Sex toys are unregulated 00:11:14 - Etsy and censorship 00:14:10 - Cheap materials 00:15:07 - Onboarding sellers on Konfettie 00:16:23 - Issues with products 00:17:46 - How to set up a marketplace 00:18:48 - Failing to deliver 00:19:57 - Everything custom 00:21:17 - People don't know what they want 00:24:15 - Emilie was doing everything 00:26:02 - Getting kicked off of social media 00:28:37 - Sex toy collectors 00:30:41 - Marketing that doesn't scale 00:33:04 - Airbnb was funded with cereal boxes 00:34:07 - Smut Slam 00:36:18 - Finding a co-founder 00:39:14 - Investment rounds 00:42:22 - Different dynamics with a team 00:44:18 - It's just a company 00:45:54 - Listening to customer feedback 00:50:34 - What is the end goal?

“What people want the most is to be useful, be effective and have an impact on the world. The specific responsibilities that come with it, tend not to be as important as that.“ Serge Beaumont shares how to achieve dedicated teams, the importance of autonomy and how to be effective together. A great listen for those that love effective teams! Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Serge Beaumont: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergebeaumont https://mobile.twitter.com/sbeaumont Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/bfEA96mGe1A New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:26 - 20 projects 00:01:18 - Unclear priorities 00:04:50 - Teams and common goals 00:06:18 - Sociocracy 3.0 Delegation Canvas 00:07:52 - Delegating power 00:11:21 - Who are we as a team? 00:13:04 - Clarity and responsibilities 00:15:11 - Sanitisation canvas 00:18:54 - Role and Soul 00:23:09 - Responsibility and accountability 00:25:01 - Why does scrum only have 3 roles? 00:29:04 - Shared mental model 00:31:42 - Teams that are big 00:34:44 - Autonomy 00:36:17 - Partitioning a team 00:39:17 - Technical autonomy gone wrong 00:41:27 - Loose coupling 00:43:17 - Falling back to old behaviour 00:45:17 - Agile transformation at bol.com 00:48:30 - Leadership vision 00:50:33 - Keepers of the culture 00:52:22 - Lack of mandate 00:53:53 - Psychological safety 00:54:50 - Fear is the great killer 00:56:29 - How interesting

Dat Tran shares how he co-founded Priceloop, what problem it solves and how he's choosing to open source the core product. I've seen more and more organisations choose this open core strategy. It removes lots of the hurdles for customer and developer adoption. On top of that, you join forces / create a community to make the product better. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Dat Tran: https://dat-tran.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/dat-tran-a1602320 https://twitter.com/datitran Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/5DbJhv7ikIk New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:23 - Playing around with ChatGPT 00:02:11 - ChatGPT is a building block 00:03:38 - AI Product Development 00:08:05 - What problems does Priceloop solve 00:14:49 - Different visualisations than spreadsheets 00:20:02 - Building the right thing 00:24:31 - Open sourcing the code 00:31:26 - What parts are still closed source? 00:34:14 - Managing services 00:36:04 - Sticking to your core 00:37:15 - The open core model 00:40:37 - How much time is spent on coding as CTO 00:44:26 - Hiring the first person 00:47:46 - How did Dat grow his network 00:53:47 - Dat wants more tech founders from Europe

Engineers can get promoted to leadership positions without knowing what is expected of them. It's less of the same and more of a sidestep. Pat Kua and I discuss the tech lead and engineering manager roles and what makes a person effective being in that role. On top of that we give perspective for people interested in those positions. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Pat Kua: https://www.patkua.com https://twitter.com/patkua https://www.linkedin.com/in/patkua Pat's newsletter: https://levelup.patkua.com Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/QMS4anI_oJo New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:42 - Different problems in coaching CTOs 00:02:08 - Problems when it comes to team structure 00:03:47 - Coaching aspects 00:06:14 - The tech lead and engineering manager paths are sidesteps 00:08:21 - Mismatch in expectations 00:10:05 - Skills a tech lead requires 00:12:54 - Dealing with people 00:16:44 - Communication challenges 00:18:13 - When is the right time to step into a leadership position? 00:20:51 - Leadership positions are not for everyone 00:23:42 - Learning from others 00:26:21 - Relationship between tech lead and engineering manager 00:31:58 - Pitfall of splitting tech lead and engineering manager 00:34:27 - Conversations about roles and responsibilities 00:36:51 - Leadership teams 00:37:43 - Who is responsible for team effectiveness? 00:40:23 - Pat's favourite role in the past 00:43:47 - Figuring out what you like and dislike doing 00:44:46 - What do you want to do? 00:46:54 - Growth mindset

A diverse work culture is what companies are striving for to gain an edge in innovation and to stand out as workplace environment. However, this is easier said than done. Priska and I explore the diversity and inclusion she's seen in the Asian work culture in comparison to the European work culture. On top of that, she shares her advice to organisations in hiring and accommodating for a diverse work environment. Enjoy 🎙 Connect with Priska Burkard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priskaburkard https://techface.ch https://twitter.com/pm_burkard Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/bTQ7ZWOZz8w New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:28 - Priska's experience in Asia 00:02:21 - Differences in the Asian work culture 00:06:04 - Education in Asia 00:06:37 - Diversity differences with Asia 00:11:20 - How organisations can grow to be more diverse 00:14:22 - Offering flexibility for your employees 00:17:47 - Transparent and honest work culture 00:18:35 - Diversity starts in hiring 00:23:25 - Opportunities for women vs. men 00:27:04 - Changing company culture 00:29:09 - Inclusion vs. deadlines 00:31:26 - Diversity from an outside perspective 00:37:01 - Organisations need to distinguish themselves 00:38:19 - How to grow your network 00:44:15 - Final thoughts