Tech Lead Journal

Daniel Luebke, software architect and co-author of 'Patterns for API Design', discusses API design patterns and best practices. Topics include understanding domain requirements, loosely coupled message exchanges, and API and message best practices.

Balazs Barna, Head of US Engineering at Wise, shares insights on building sustainable engineering by emphasizing traits of good and bad engineering management, weak code ownership, microservice strategy, stable pace, and building a bench.

Kevlin Henney, a consultant, writer, and speaker on software development, discusses timeless concepts like cohesion, coupling, and code quality. He explains how he became associated with public software failures known as KevlinHenney screens. The importance of learning from the past and the responsibility of developers to create reliable software are also highlighted.

"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.