Developers vs Managers

This episode is highly influenced by Paul Graham’s essay on maker’s vs manager’s schedules. He points out they are inherently conflicting in priorities. The biggest issues come from developers not being able to handle interruptions and managers not being able to wait for a convenient time. The guys start the episode looking at the differences in schedules and where time is allocated throughout the workday. The latter half of the episode is dedicated to ways that managers and developers can work together on creating functional schedules. 5 Differences in Schedules * Inherently Conflicting Priorities * A Manager’s Work Involves Collaboration * A Developer’s Work Involves Isolation * A Manager’s Function Is To Deal With Distractions * Developers Need Very Limited Interruptions Episode Breakdown * 09:42 Essay by Paul Graham * 10:40 Structure of a manager’s schedule * 15:03 Structure of an ideal schedule for a developer * 20:27 What managers can do to make this better * 32:40 What developers can do to make this better IoTease Will suggested the product for IoTease this week. Less IoT and more gadget it is a spoon designed to assist people with Parkinson’s Disease and other degenerative diseases that cause tremors and reduce the ability of sufferers to functionally feed themselves. Using stabilizing technology from cameras Lift Labs developed a spoon with sensors capable of detecting tremors in the hand. A great innovative use of technology that will help many people live better lives. Tricks of the Trade This week Will talks about back of the envelope calculations. The conversation is not meant for those working in financial or healthcare software. Back of the envelope calculations are rough calculations or general estimates within an order of magnitude. Many times developers attempt to solve engineering problems when the true issue is one of probability and can be effectively solved with an estimate. Links * Liftware * Liftware Video * Paul Graham Essay * Letters to my 25 Year Old Self * Managing Developers * Borland C++ Tutorial Editor’s Notes: