Overcommitted

SummaryIn this episode of the Overcommitted Podcast, hosts Bethany, Brittany, and Erika discuss their experiences with the book 'Thinking in Systems' by Donella Meadows. They explore the concepts of systems thinking and its applications in software engineering, team dynamics, and societal issues. The conversation delves into the importance of feedback loops, user experience, and the impact of organizational structures on individual performance. The hosts also reflect on their book club experience, sharing insights on how to foster engaging discussions and learning opportunities.LinksThinking in Systems⁠⁠The point of the system is what it does - Anil Dash⁠Just for fun⁠Changelog episode about COBOL⁠TakeawaysThe book 'Thinking in Systems' is approachable and easy to read.Systems thinking can be applied to various fields, not just software engineering.Feedback loops are crucial in understanding how systems function.Understanding the goals of a system can help identify problems.Organizational systems can be challenging to change compared to software systems.The book club format enhances learning and engagement.It's important to recognize the motivations within a system.Technical discussions can be enriched by diverse perspectives.Hostsovercommitted.devBethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comEggyhead: https://github.com/eggyhead

This week the crew chats with Hirsch Singhal, Staff Product Manager at GitHub, about effective collaboration between product and engineering. LinksHirsch Singhal's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hpsin.netHirsch Singhal's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirsch-singhal/Domain-Driven Design: https://www.amazon.com/Domain-Driven-Design-Tackling-Complexity-Software/dp/0321125215 Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠⁠⁠⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/bethanyj28⁠⁠⁠⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Eggyhead: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Tamsut: ⁠⁠https://jtamsut.substack.com⁠⁠

The crew chat about what we're learning right now and how we learn.LinksPARA: https://fortelabs.com/blog/para/The Art of Visual Design: https://www.artofvisualdesign.com/ Math Academy: https://www.mathacademy.com/Deep Learning from scratch: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/deep-learning-from/9781492041405/Kaggle competitions: https://www.kaggle.com/A Philosophy of Software Design: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/a-philosophy-of-software-design-review/ The Feynman Technique: https://fs.blog/feynman-technique/The Bradfield School: csprimer.comExecute program: https://www.executeprogram.com/ NotebookLM from Google: https://notebooklm.google.com/ The Software Engineer's Guidebook: https://www.engguidebook.com/Pachinko: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34051011-pachinkoPiranesi: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50202953-piranesiThinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-Mathematical-Princeton-Science/dp/069111966XAlgorithms to live by: https://algorithmstoliveby.com/The Chaos Machine: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58950736-the-chaos-machineCosmos by Carl Sagan: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55030.CosmosHow to Solve it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/192221.How_to_Solve_ItThe little book of aliens: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123018903-the-little-book-of-aliensDesigning Data Intensive Applications: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23463279-designing-data-intensive-applicationsHosts⁠⁠⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠⁠⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/bethanyj28⁠⁠⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠⁠⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠⁠⁠Eggyhead: ⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠⁠Jonathan Tamsut: ⁠https://jtamsut.substack.com⁠

The crew chat about what tech debt is and how we have prioritized it in the past.Hosts⁠⁠⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠⁠⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/bethanyj28⁠⁠⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠⁠⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠⁠⁠Eggyhead: ⁠⁠⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠⁠

The crew chat about how we make decisions and prioritize things as software engineers.Links⁠Clean ArchitectureOne-way vs. Two-way door decisionsSam Altman: "The most important thing is deciding what to work on"Architecture Decision RecordsMoSCoW PrioritizationHosts⁠⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠⁠https://github.com/bethanyj28⁠⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠⁠Eggyhead: ⁠⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠Jonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com

The crew chat about our current toolset for building things as software engineers. Tips and tricks for staying on track and building things with our teams!LinksJaegerVisual Studio Live Share⁠Overcommitted on Bluesky⁠Hosts⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠https://github.com/bethanyj28⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠Eggyhead: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠

The crew gets philosophical about the ethics of building Artificial Intelligence systems. Are software engineers going to be replaced? Is it ethical to build AI systems?Links⁠SuperintelligenceBlog: Less WrongZizian cultThinking in SystemsDwarkesh Patel podChatGPT Medical Diagnosis StudyMCP Server Claude Desktop TutorialMCP Podcast⁠Overcommitted on Bluesky⁠Hosts⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠Eggyhead: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠Jonathan Tamsut: ⁠https://jtamsut.substack.com⁠

The crew chat about our experience using AI right now as software engineers (which is subject to change even by the time this episode airs). Including an overview of our current thoughts on the AI landscape, what tools we use for which tasks, and our thoughts on what we are excited about for the future!LinksThe S in MCP Stands for SecurityBook: The Scaling EraOvercommitted on BlueskyHostsOvercommitted.devBethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comEggyhead: https://github.com/eggyheadJonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com

In this episode, the group chats about a recent GitHub Blog post from Brittany about How GitHub engineers onboard to a new codebase, including how they prefer to get up to speed on a new team.Links: https://github.blog/developer-skills/application-development/how-github-engineers-learn-new-codebases/Hosts:Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comEggyhead: https://github.com/eggyheadJonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com/

On this episode the crew of GitHub engineers reviews their goals for the first quarter and discusses their plans for the second quarter of 2025. Links mentioned12 week yearAtomic habitsHabit kitObsidian templateGodel Escher BockThinking in SystemsPartifulFind the hostsBethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comJonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com