
Developer Tea
Developer Tea exists to help driven developers connect to their ultimate purpose and excel at their work so that they can positively impact the people they influence.
With over 17 million downloads to date, Developer Tea is a short podcast hosted by Jonathan Cutrell, engineering leader with over 15 years of industry experience. We hope you'll take the topics from this podcast and continue the conversation, either online or in person with your peers. Email: developertea@gmail.com
Latest episodes

Nov 3, 2023 • 17min
Availability Heuristic and Substituting Hard Questions
In this podcast, the hosts discuss the availability heuristic and its impact on decision-making. They also touch on the concept of salience and how recent and memorable information can affect our perception. The episode explores the use of Miro as a collaborative tool and its role in facilitating clear thinking and collaboration. The hosts delve into how our brains make quick judgments based on limited information and recent experiences. They also discuss the impact of self-presentation and recent interactions on others' perceptions.

Oct 26, 2023 • 15min
Spend Your Time Intentionally Through Expectation Mapping
Learn how to spend your time intentionally by understanding expectations and mapping your time. Discover a new framework for managing your time effectively and simplifying complex projects. Validate assumptions and reduce time spent on non-beneficial activities. Support the show on iTunes to help other developers discover the content.

Oct 21, 2023 • 9min
What is the Real Question? How To Be An Exceptional Listener
In this podcast, the host talks about the importance of being an exceptional listener and understanding the true meaning behind people's words. They explore the value of questions and how they can build community and provide assistance. The episode also promotes the developer team discord community and encourages listeners to support the show.

Oct 12, 2023 • 8min
Backlog Psychology - Fix Your Broken Expectations
The podcast explores the concept of expectation and how it influences our perception of reality. It discusses the importance of practice in creating stability and the impact of binary bias on our expectations. It also delves into the concept of backlog psychology, where individuals place all their expectations on one outcome. The podcast emphasizes the importance of considering a range of outcomes and leaning towards higher estimations to align expectations with multiple possibilities.

Oct 3, 2023 • 8min
Backlog Psychology - Practice Requires Rhythmic Predictability
This podcast explores the significance of practice in improving skills and achieving mastery. It highlights the importance of repetitive tasks and consistency for engineers to adapt and make small adjustments over time. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for consistency and rhythm in meetings to improve team productivity.

10 snips
Sep 21, 2023 • 16min
Backlog Psychology - Hyperbolic Discounting, Tech Debt, and Hacking Your Habits
This podcast explores the concept of hyperbolic discounting and its impact on decision-making, work environments, and estimating time. It discusses how humans prioritize immediate gains over long-term benefits, leading to shortcuts and optimistic estimates, which can result in trouble later on. The podcast also emphasizes the importance of designing effective immediate value incentives to overcome barriers and achieve long-term goals.

Sep 17, 2023 • 5min
Backlog Psychology - The Ziegarnik Effect - Why Limiting Work In Progress Protects Your Cognitive Load
This episode explores the benefits of limiting work in progress and the concept of cognitive load. They discuss psychologist Blooma Zygarnik's research on incomplete tasks and their impact on remembering.

Sep 5, 2023 • 9min
Two Tips for Better Retros - Add Specificity, Respect Uncertainty
Learn two specific ways to enhance retrospective outcomes: specificity and respecting uncertainty. Avoid generic improvement statements and treat outcomes as experiments. Make specific adjustments based on hypotheses and accept and adapt to uncertainty by running experiments, measuring outcomes, and making adjustments accordingly.

7 snips
Aug 27, 2023 • 13min
One Big Step Versus A Small Random Step
Count the cost of learning. Optimize for the cost of learning when choosing a path towards a goal. Sometimes it's easier to learn by smaller steps. Determine the cost of learning in your situation. Continuous learning is crucial in decision-making and goal achievement.

Aug 20, 2023 • 7min
Interrogate Your Decision Making Rules
Discover the importance of analyzing decision-making rules and the impact of implicit and explicit rules. Learn how to challenge and replace implicit rules with more explicit ones.