If you want to make the most of your reading time, some sparse journaling is very helpful. I started journaling with logseq two years ago. I started by pasting in an HN link, marking it with the #interesting tag, then writing down a few surface level thoughts/questions. It's nice to know that I can revisit the memories or parse my notes with AI when I'm writing or designing.
> I do not think it is meaningfully different from the simpler example, just with a lot of extra steps.
Those extra steps are meaningfully different. In your description, a casual observer could compare the two JPEGs and recognize the inferior copy. However, AI has become so advanced that such detection is becoming impossible. It is clearly voodoo.
Agreed on Clean Code. I remember nothing practical from that book. Its principal value is that it looks nice on my shelf.
Watching Bob Martin's talks, he just likes ranting about computers and doesn't give actionable advice. However, he was one of the first "tech" authors I was exposed to, so I guess the the book itself is good for marketing. Maybe it's accessible enough for beginners. But now the book is certainly worthless as a reference or refresher to me.
There's also something to be said for women that read a lot of romance novels or fanfics and have warped "love maps". Probably not a big % of the population, but it changes the psychological waters of relationships with them.
Women preferring taller men will not go away because its desirability is rooted in biology. Taller men make women feel physically safe. Unless culture reconstructs how women view safety in sexual selection, this will continue to be the case.
Isn't the tragedy of the commons how developing technology consumes our attention spans?
Human attention span is a finite resource (we can only do so much in one life), and tech startups can consume a lot of that for relatively little payoff. Building a successful startup is like solving the bitcoin hash on your first few cycles. The barrier for entry is low, but you can hit it big (and consume a lot of cheap, finite* power too).
The payoff is worth the risk since our communication technology is nascent and underexplored. We have an abundance of time right now because of what tech has done for us, but the cultural and environmental costs of growing tech are not well understood.
Use of attention span is difficult to measure right now, but that could change in the coming decades. That said, parent comment seems to use "tragedy of the commons" as a stand in for "human nature."
How have you developed a sense for organizational friction? What observations of culture can I use to make an educated guess about how easy it is to do my work?
I agree with your point that a large org does not guarantee what the author claims. The author claims that the organizational friction can be measured by productivity, but you recognize culture as the better diagnostic criterion. The big O metaphor does not extend well to the argument, as you point out.
I'm looking for hard hitting interview questions so I don't waste my time on "soul sucking" positions.
That’s the trick isn’t it? As “the boss” I’ve been able to self create my culture around me so it’s been easier. I have landed in management teams that were so oppressive I couldn’t even then. I’ve watched my peer leaders for signs. It’s very hard in an interview to know where you’re landing.
A few things I’ve noticed that might help:
* ask people in the team what they do and how they work, and how the team helps them work best. If they answer “oh I’m a programmer 2” and have wishy washy answers on the rest, that’s a bad sign. They’re being managed by a “by the book” manager. If they describe some complex role that isn’t out of the HR leveling guide, and a unique way of working that’s accommodated by the team, that’s a good sign. If you hear everyone in the team describing a role that’s unique and tailored to them, then that’s a great sign.
* this is controversial but I think any org that slavishly follows modern day agile / scrum can not be dynamic. Nothing more to say other than back in the 90’s Bay Area hanging with thought works and those folks, agile was something very different than today.
* the manager themselves should be very open to questions with thoughtful answers that aren’t rote. They should likewise spend more time understanding you than usual. They should be assessing your fit in their team - do you fill a gap? Do your weaknesses complement others strengths? Are you looking to turn the crank or are you looking to innovate?
Also, be aware of yourself. Not everyone does well in a dynamic environment. It’s more chaotic and less structured. If you like clearly defined and regimented work, go for the clearly defined and regimented team.
