Beyond Coding

Connect with Andrew Snare: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asnare ⁠https://toot.community/@ajs⁠ https://twitter.com/asnare Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/h4O3up5m0PU New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE00:00:00 - Intro00:00:25 - Disagreeing how things work00:03:18 - Understanding 99%00:05:44 - Comfortably being the expert00:06:47 - Getting used to making mistakes00:08:26 - The ingredients to an awesome work environment00:10:00 - Delivering high quality software00:12:12 - Building for scale00:13:25 - Removing components00:15:55 - The biggest problems in modern engineering00:18:15 - In tech, not all opinions are equal00:20:44 - The Mythical Man-Month00:21:52 - Understanding why00:23:10 - Losing trust and respect00:24:20 - Being at fault for incorrect decisions00:26:38 - Compounding knowledge00:28:52 - Learning different programming languages00:29:59 - Patrick's struggle with foundational knowledge00:32:18 - Top down vs bottom up knowledge00:34:40 - Going a layer deeper00:36:38 - Understanding new concepts00:39:07 - Comparing engineering disciplines00:41:03 - Uncharted territory00:42:24 - Integration complexities00:45:14 - The properties of elegance00:48:22 - Are smart solutions elegant?00:49:28 - Messy problems and messy solutions00:50:58 - Making solutions too simple00:53:50 - 3 audiences when writing code00:56:11 - Last thoughts

Connect with Marleen Kappert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marleenkappert Connect with Sebastiaan Bekker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastiaanbekker Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/CwiDLWboAvs New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE00:00:00 - Intro00:00:28 - Work and holidays00:03:03 - Hotel and restaurant industry00:04:54 - Differences in tech organisations00:06:15 - Early in career program at Xebia00:09:56 - Hiring globally00:11:33 - Everyone is working from anywhere00:12:55 - Keeping the culture00:14:38 - Culture is ever-evolving00:16:26 - Behaviour and values00:18:22 - Workshops on virtues00:20:13 - Understanding the business as a developer00:21:57 - Remote working challenges from the development side00:23:35 - Being deliberate when you work remote00:25:05 - Marleen set up the people experience team00:27:26 - Openly discussing challenges00:29:48 - The way of working within a team00:31:51 - Wherever people work, mistakes happen00:34:45 - Having a clear purpose00:37:12 - The challenge to align everyone00:39:54 - Remote town halls are challenging00:41:56 - Processes that change when companies grow00:44:43 - Being flexible in the way you communicate00:47:02 - Patrick's memory of working in diverse teams00:47:51 - How Marleen and Sebastiaan started working together00:49:31 - Talking about systems00:50:23 - Not taking things personally00:53:26 - High quality interactions within a team00:55:37 - Rounding off

Connect with Lindsay Faller: https://cloudfields.cc⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/cloudfields.cc https://www.lindsayfaller.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-faller-2277243 Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/1vPDA54Yg9k New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE00:00:00 - Intro00:00:23 - Podcasting experiences00:02:10 - Comparing yourself to others00:03:45 - Moving goal posts00:05:18 - Acting within your values00:06:57 - Lindsay's core values00:09:12 - How to find your core values00:13:08 - Self development00:15:27 - Sharing career perspective00:17:44 - Life purpose00:19:58 - Being a generalist00:22:36 - Being drawn to how businesses run00:25:02 - From doer to thinker00:27:29 - Burned out from working with creatives00:28:52 - Systems and processes are not sexy00:31:22 - Challenges for small businesses00:33:30 - Figuring out how to be more effective00:35:49 - Postponing what you don't like00:38:37 - There will always be things you don't like doing00:38:58 - Outsource when you can00:40:18 - Lindsay is not a micromanager00:42:51 - Letting go00:44:16 - Giving and taking ownership00:46:47 - The first phase of your business00:49:48 - Entrepreneurs are responsible for everything00:52:19 - Bare minimum processes00:53:36 - Businesses evolve00:56:03 - Recognising things are outside of your skillset

Connect with Rens Dimmendaal: https://rensdimmendaal.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/rensdimmendaal https://twitter.com/R_Dimm Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/2VOGakc2qvk New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE 00:00:25 - Hosting and being a guest00:01:42 - Day to day of Rens00:03:29 - Generative AI: Where do we stand?00:06:18 - Honeycomb.io using an Gen AI to increase conversion00:09:23 - Plagiarism and chat bots00:12:23 - Integrating different solutions00:14:37 - Testing AI solutions00:16:21 - Slack GPT00:17:36 - Sensitive information00:19:56 - GitHub Copilot, Sweep AI and new ways of coding00:22:08 - Way of working and quality control00:24:17 - AI will change the way we learn00:25:45 - Distinguish yourself when applying for jobs00:26:44 - Three types of knowledge and AI00:28:45 - Learn by doing00:30:01 - Doing more as a single person00:31:42 - Patrick generated podcast summaries00:32:55 - Easy to make something with LLMs00:35:12 - Long term LLM challenges00:39:11 - Metrics to focus on for LLMs00:40:44 - Rens's greenfield LLM implementation step by step00:43:03 - How to leverage open source LLMs00:44:12 - Monopolising organisations gathering data for AI00:46:27 - Big companies play unfair in the AI playing field00:47:49 - Generative AI steals art from other artists00:50:40 - The future of AI looks bright

Connect with Eva Zahrawi Ruiz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evazahrawi http://the2ndhalf.nl https://twitter.com/evaza Check out her podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/en/podcast/the-2nd-half-your-guide-to-a-more-fulfilling-career-and-life/id1493425732 Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/oldZF_jgy9I New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:35 - Planning for Japan 2025 00:02:20 - Patrick missed out on a trip to Japan and Russia 00:03:00 - Why Eva loves Japan 00:04:21 - Japan is affordable 00:06:57 - Eva is big on travelling 00:10:12 - Patrick is travelling more and more 00:11:34 - Combining work and travelling 00:14:38 - Flexibility as freelancer 00:16:25 - International opportunities 00:18:56 - Discipline of working from abroad 00:22:36 - Stepping out of your regular routine 00:25:14 - Losing the title 00:27:18 - Profession crisis 00:30:20 - There is always a way back 00:33:39 - No one expected Eva to leave 00:37:37 - Enjoying the work you do 00:40:14 - Growing as fast as possible 00:42:37 - What is your mission? 00:45:29 - Eva's core values 00:50:10 - Working towards certain goals 00:54:28 - Difficult conversations 00:58:34 - For as long as it takes 01:00:09 - Being good with politics 01:03:29 - Eva hates escalations 01:07:51 - Not just executing on orders 01:13:32 - Figuring out the why 01:16:57 - Managing to avoid clashes 01:19:56 - Companies are big social experiments 01:21:28 - People are inherently good 01:25:40 - Making it your managers problem 01:29:51 - Only come with good news 01:33:21 - Complain in one on ones 01:35:39 - Final thoughts

Connect with Alyona Volkova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvol Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/jW3xmo27144 New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:25 - Echo-free chambers00:01:00 - Calming yourself down00:03:15 - Overthinking things with public speaking00:05:29 - Recognising yourself in footage00:06:34 - Receiving compliments00:09:29 - Actively self-reflecting00:12:10 - Different ways to retain information00:15:05 - It all started with photoshop00:17:49 - Alyona's first real job as a developer00:20:40 - Moving from developing to design00:22:38 - Love for software engineering and design00:25:33 - Developers and designers understanding each other00:28:00 - Patrick's experience working with designers00:29:16 - Creative developers00:32:54 - Alyona's journey with mentorship00:36:23 - Fulfilment in mentoring00:37:43 - Long-term mentoring relationships00:38:59 - Mentees having similar challenges00:40:20 - Understanding the thought process00:42:20 - The right mindset00:43:41 - How to be a great mentor?00:46:08 - Pair designing and co-creating00:47:47 - Copying designs to learn00:50:18 - Tutorials and knowledge retention00:51:48 - Continuous learning and improving in mentoring00:53:30 - Past, present, future00:55:15 - Crossing paths00:57:18 - Mentoring has changed Alyona01:01:29 - Rounding off

Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/KtJILlRIPOc New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:29 - How do you manage your own expectations00:02:41 - If you could change one thing from the past, what would that be?00:05:37 - What is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten?00:07:33 - Why did you transition from ops to development?00:11:54 - Applying to a new role00:15:45 - What languages are you learning?00:16:19 - Rehydrating...00:16:32 - What does it mean when someone says: you'll learn this on the job?00:18:19 - How much time do you get to learn on the job?00:19:25 - What to learn and how to progress with CSS00:21:32 - How many projects should my portfolio include?00:24:38 - Should a startup have in-house or outsourced developers?00:27:43 - What traits differentiate good vs. great developers?00:31:04 - How do you conduct an interview for a junior frontend role?00:34:01 - Do you have any tips for senior developers?00:37:16 - What interview questions do you ask?00:40:47 - Thank you for your questions!! :)

Connect with Georges de Boeck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgesdeboeck Blinkist article (called it Blender, oops): https://uxplanet.org/how-solving-our-biggest-customer-complaint-at-blinkist-led-to-a-23-increase-in-conversion-b60ad514134b Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/M1EkMTauIBU New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:22 - Preshow baby talk00:01:43 - How Georges got interested behaviour00:03:23 - Wrong expectations00:06:40 - Behavioural experiments to increase conversion00:09:26 - Georges's guerilla experiment00:11:41 - Interviewing customers00:13:06 - Usability testing is difficult but valuable00:14:58 - Letting go of your own opinion00:16:00 - Your ideas might not be feasible00:17:12 - Do we have too many processes?00:18:26 - Boundaries make solutions more challenging00:20:39 - Optimizing what you already have00:21:50 - Becoming a specialist00:23:39 - It's impossible to cancel my Hello Fresh subscription00:26:08 - Conscious reputational damage00:27:43 - Georges will never be a customer of this telecom provider again00:30:08 - Mindset buying lottery tickets00:31:18 - Blinkist increased conversion by focussing on customer problems00:33:42 - Company USPs that are contradicting what other companies are doing00:35:45 - Getting customers hooked just works00:36:50 - Pokémon Sleep is genius00:38:07 - Pokemon Go and gaming the system00:39:03 - How to do microtransactions right00:41:26 - Smart game design, but unethical00:44:09 - Georges's weakness in buying books00:45:54 - Companies selling your data00:48:45 - City design to drive behaviour00:51:50 - Experiments that create habits00:54:21 - Helping people and not making money00:56:15 - Choosing not to choose00:58:24 - Patrick got all his wisdom teeth pulled00:59:31 - Maybe I should've thought this through more...01:00:15 - Dutch habit of not going to the doctor and dentist01:01:47 - Final thoughts

Connect with Carlos Kelkboom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-k-4016b8225 Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/6QfyY9ffz6M New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:23 - YouTube recommendation system00:02:15 - Innovation on YouTube00:03:37 - Starting up something new00:05:12 - Disrupting your own organisation00:07:08 - Big companies should invest in disruption continuously00:08:52 - The start of a project00:11:29 - How important is it to build this?00:13:24 - Building the system three times00:14:54 - complexity and first time right00:17:08 - All you need is disciplined engineers00:19:43 - Architects can do more harm than good00:21:50 - Smaller teams00:23:28 - Not every team needs Scrum00:24:33 - Let engineers commit and then leave them alone00:25:48 - Processes that are not helping us00:28:19 - Using the right tool for the job00:32:17 - Ownership is moving to developer teams00:32:56 - The spirit of software development00:35:08 - How would you build something from scratch?00:37:59 - Trust and predictability00:39:38 - Control and fear00:42:00 - The dna of a tech company00:44:19 - Why tech companies have a playground in their office00:44:49 - Getting and keeping developers in a flow state00:46:30 - Stop projects that are not working00:49:49 - Stopping is hard00:50:21 - Why games release when they do00:50:35 - Prove it works in 10 days00:51:52 - The fulfilment of delivering value to users00:53:18 - How great developers work00:55:14 - How you become a senior developer00:57:35 - Downtime and execution00:58:42 - The determination to continue01:01:01 - Empathy and nudging01:03:42 - Carlos might start a contrarian podcast01:06:02 - Rounding off

Connect with Lian Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-li https://twitter.com/lianmakesthings https://lianmakesthings.dev Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/tuIxuiG2MIY New episodes every Wednesday with our host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎙Patrick Akil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   Big shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xebia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode! OUTLINE:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:25 - Reminiscing about older videos00:02:46 - Standing on stage00:04:22 - The impact of developer advocacy00:06:04 - Measuring your impact00:10:09 - Transitioning to developer advocacy00:12:19 - What to focus on as dev rel00:14:32 - Discussions and disagreements00:16:21 - Creating a shared understanding00:18:29 - Lian's career choices and progression00:21:21 - Consultancy mindset00:22:58 - Under-promise over-deliver00:24:02 - Starting over with dev rel?00:26:09 - Lian's burnout00:30:39 - Recovering from a burnout00:32:58 - Timeouts and routine00:34:58 - Sleep in your running shoes00:35:44 - Living in pajamas00:36:03 - Remote working00:36:44 - Tourists in Amsterdam00:38:02 - Building a community00:40:59 - Teams and communities00:42:00 - Giving your thing away00:43:13 - Micromanaging and letting go00:45:36 - Tribal leadership00:48:04 - Behaviour while being stressed00:49:40 - Self awareness and triggers00:50:07 - All tech problems are human problems