"Neal Ford, Director and software architect at ThoughtWorks, discusses software architecture and design in this episode. He explains the definition of software architecture, the difference between architecture and design, and the importance of trade-offs and the why. Ford also explores the hard parts of software architecture."

Gregor Hohpe, author of 'Platform Strategy', discusses building platforms and the key strategies involved. Topics include the definition and benefits of platforms, the difference between platforms and IT services, building on top of cloud platforms, required skillsets, creating proper platform abstractions, and the trend of developer and business capability platforms. Gregor also shares a fun analogy of a fruit salad to demonstrate a good platform strategy.

Dominica DeGrandis, author of 'Making Work Visible', discusses how to optimize workflow by identifying and addressing the five thieves of time: too much work in progress, conflicting priorities, unplanned work, unknown dependencies, and neglected work. She emphasizes the importance of measuring flow and bringing visibility to end-to-end value streams.

Ben Foster, co-founder of Prodify and co-author of “Build What Matters”, discusses vision-led product management and the importance of understanding customer problems. He explores common product dysfunctions and the three key aspects of vision-led product management: key customer outcomes, customer journey vision, and product strategy.

“Lean is not about how we organize work, but how we think about it. It’s not a production system; it’s an education system." Catherine Chabiron is a Lean expert and the co-author of “Learning to Scale at Theodo Group”. In this episode, Catherine and Fabrice–the co-founder and CTO of Theodo–shared their lessons learned from implementing Lean at a fast-growing scale-up company. Catherine and Fabrice first started by sharing the “big company disease” challenge and how Theodo started its Lean journey. We then discussed Lean essentials that include some of its principles, such as an obsession with customer value and lead time. We also talked about Lean practices adopted from the Toyota Production System, that include Gemba, Jidoka, Andon, and Kaizen. Along the way, Catherine and Fabrice also emphasized the importance of always building quality right the first time.   Listen out for: Career Journey - [00:03:41] Big Company Disease - [00:07:26] Theodo’s Lean Journey - [00:10:19] Implementing Agile at Scale - [00:14:35] The Essence of Lean - [00:18:41] Gemba - [00:23:16] Normal vs Not Normal - [00:26:26] Doing More Gemba Walks - [00:29:40] Obsession With Customer Value - [00:32:59] Obsession With Lead Time - [00:37:07] Jidoka & Andon - [00:40:25] Built-in Quality Right First Time - [00:44:16] Kaizen - [00:46:39] 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:52:19] _____ Catherine Chabiron’s BioCatherine Chabiron is an established expert in Lean management with a professional journey spanning over 40 years. Catherine is not only a Lean executive coach but also a renowned author. Her notable contribution, “Learning to Scale at Theodo Group: Growing a Fast and Resilient Company,” exemplifies her unique know-how and offers practical advice to leaders seeking growth without compromising on core values and employee engagement. Fabrice Bernhard’s BioFabrice co-founded Theodo in Paris in 2009, which has grown on average 50% a year for the last 8 years and generated 90M€ turnover in 2022. He is now based in London to help on the international expansion of Theodo. Follow Catherine: LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/catherine-chabiron-43ba6b16 Follow Fabrice: LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/fabricebernhard/ X – @fabriceb _____ Our Sponsors Miro is your team's visual workspace to connect, collaborate, and create innovations together, from anywhere.Sign up today at miro.com/podcast and get your first 3 Miro boards free forever. Like this episode? Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/154 Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Buy me a coffee or become a patron.

Nick Tune, principal consultant and author of “Architecture Modernization”, discusses the socio-technical aspects of architecture modernization. He highlights the concept of an independent value stream with domain alignment, business outcome focus, empowered teams, and software alignment. Tips on getting buy-in, collaborative modernization, and the Wardley Mapping technique are shared. The idea of an Architecture Modernization Enabling Team and creating a roadmap are also discussed.

Srihari Sridharan, author of "Craft Your Code", discusses software craftsmanship and improving code quality. Topics include coding standards, code readability, code review, managing technical debt, creating high-performing teams, and the importance of understanding different architectural styles and domain knowledge.

Marsha Acker, author of 'Build Your Model for Leading Change' and host of 'Defining Moments of Leadership' podcast, shares insights on building a model for leadership and leading change. Topics covered include challenges for organizations in making changes, David Kantor's theories on structural dynamics and functional awareness, communication challenges, and the three different models leaders need to think about.

Alan Williamson, author of 'Think Like a CTO', shares tips on how to become a great CTO. He discusses the role of a CTO, visionary thinking, working with CEOs, building engineering teams, dealing with imposter syndrome, and personal review.

Heidi Helfand, author of “Dynamic Reteaming”, discusses team changes and the five patterns of dynamic reteaming. Topics covered include onboarding, offboarding, maintaining company culture, ideal team size, and leadership role in dynamic teams.