“Set yourself personal deadlines for those experiments. You can’t try things out forever.” - that’s so true. Often people think they are in stage 2, but in reality they are in stage 3, because they stick too long to the wrong approach.
But just as sleep-deprived people can’t tell they’re sleep-deprived, it takes some work to uncover if people work on the wrong solutions. I have had some extreme experiences with juniors working on the wrong thing for days because I gave two thumbs up early in my engineering career to answers like "I don't have any blockers".
I think the emphasis here has to be on communication of these standup updates. A fresh pair of eyes from the outside can notice if the words really reflect the situation or if the words are hiding a blocker inside
An important checklist to keep in mind every time you get stuck! Although missing the number one advice: sleep! Solved the biggest blockers of my career by going to bed for a while 🥲😴
Ah I'm not even talking about being too tired to work. It's just that sleeping sorts out ideas and make debugging a lot easier. You never take a nap, come back to your problem and find the solution immediately?
Congratulations, Fran, Your 20th week of writing is a remarkable milestone, and reaching 2,500 people is a testament to the value you bring to the community. Your insights on navigating career obstacles, especially the three stages of being blocked, are practical and insightful. The clear roadmap you provide, along with your personal experiences, makes your content relatable and actionable. Keep up the fantastic work of empowering software engineers with valuable strategies for their career growth. Looking forward to more insights in the weeks to come!
Reading through, I was thinking, what if "Do you have any blockers?" is not the right question to ask?
Sure, everyone needs time to deliver a solution, and we don't question if they can do it, but if they are blocked in the process. I never kick off standups with ”Do you have any blockers?” but rather with something like ”What are your updates on <project you're working on>?”. This implies that I'm curious about your overall progress (how you plan to solve it, what steps it involves), and not just in blockers. And this doesn't make standups any longer.
Congrats on hitting this huge milestone Fran absolutely deserved 🤝
Blockers come in different forms and shapes. I think it depends on the level of the engineer, type of initiative, team goals. A few things that worked for me:
1. For urgent projects I often set - "No blockers allowed". If you can't make progress - you escalate immediately.
2. During the engineer onboarding - spend up to 2 hours to unblock yourself, if not - reach out for help.
3. In general, at the senior level the line between "blocked" and "investigating" becomes less clear. "I'm blocked" just becomes "I'm troubleshooting". And that might go up to a day until the blocker is brought up at the daily standup.
“Set yourself personal deadlines for those experiments. You can’t try things out forever.” - that’s so true. Often people think they are in stage 2, but in reality they are in stage 3, because they stick too long to the wrong approach.
But just as sleep-deprived people can’t tell they’re sleep-deprived, it takes some work to uncover if people work on the wrong solutions. I have had some extreme experiences with juniors working on the wrong thing for days because I gave two thumbs up early in my engineering career to answers like "I don't have any blockers".
Yeah, it makes perfect sense.
I think the emphasis here has to be on communication of these standup updates. A fresh pair of eyes from the outside can notice if the words really reflect the situation or if the words are hiding a blocker inside
An important checklist to keep in mind every time you get stuck! Although missing the number one advice: sleep! Solved the biggest blockers of my career by going to bed for a while 🥲😴
Absolutely, Rémy!
We must take care of our lives outside of work to perform at our best. Otherwise, we are going to be sleeping in meetings 😅
Ah I'm not even talking about being too tired to work. It's just that sleeping sorts out ideas and make debugging a lot easier. You never take a nap, come back to your problem and find the solution immediately?
For me, it hasn't been sleeping itself but spacing out.
Like just lying down with my phone or a notebook by my side to take a note.
Or taking a walk without music/podcast and filling notes in my phone as ideas come to mind
Congratulations, Fran, Your 20th week of writing is a remarkable milestone, and reaching 2,500 people is a testament to the value you bring to the community. Your insights on navigating career obstacles, especially the three stages of being blocked, are practical and insightful. The clear roadmap you provide, along with your personal experiences, makes your content relatable and actionable. Keep up the fantastic work of empowering software engineers with valuable strategies for their career growth. Looking forward to more insights in the weeks to come!
Thanks you, I really appreciate it
Congrats on hitting 2.5! You are growing and good job on keeping consistency.
Self awareness in knowing when to seek help and how is so important. Good points!
Thanks, Raviraj!
Your early feedback in my newsletter was both useful and inspiring :)
Reading through, I was thinking, what if "Do you have any blockers?" is not the right question to ask?
Sure, everyone needs time to deliver a solution, and we don't question if they can do it, but if they are blocked in the process. I never kick off standups with ”Do you have any blockers?” but rather with something like ”What are your updates on <project you're working on>?”. This implies that I'm curious about your overall progress (how you plan to solve it, what steps it involves), and not just in blockers. And this doesn't make standups any longer.
Congrats on hitting this huge milestone Fran absolutely deserved 🤝
Totally agree. We could debate if what I called "stage 2" is being blocked or if it's part of the job.
We have to emphasize in communication, the self-awareness of knowing what you are trying to do and for how long you'll try.
Someone with more experience could spot that you are blocked, even if you don't realize about it.
Thanks for your words btw, let's go for more milestones!
Blockers come in different forms and shapes. I think it depends on the level of the engineer, type of initiative, team goals. A few things that worked for me:
1. For urgent projects I often set - "No blockers allowed". If you can't make progress - you escalate immediately.
2. During the engineer onboarding - spend up to 2 hours to unblock yourself, if not - reach out for help.
3. In general, at the senior level the line between "blocked" and "investigating" becomes less clear. "I'm blocked" just becomes "I'm troubleshooting". And that might go up to a day until the blocker is brought up at the daily standup.
Wonder what you think about it?