The Incrementalist

The Incrementalist is a Substack aimed at tech leaders and software engineers, focusing on continuous improvement and leadership skills. It covers personal knowledge management, effective team collaboration practices, software development methodologies, and introduces the potential of advanced technologies like GPT-3. Emphasis is placed on practical strategies for career growth and enhancing team productivity.

Leadership and Management Personal Knowledge Management Software Development Practices Career Growth Team Collaboration Innovation and Creativity Technical Interviewing Artificial Intelligence

The hottest Substack posts of The Incrementalist

And their main takeaways

How to make your ideas stick

2 implied HN points • 08 Dec 23
💼 Business Risk Analysis
  1. Establish context by starting with the 'why' to ensure mutual understanding before diving into the solution.
  2. Identify the problem clearly by grounding discussions with data and metrics and formulating a hypothesis to emphasize urgency.
  3. Present various solutions, consider different options, and follow a structured process to make better decisions, while also demonstrating critical thinking skills.

How to Run Effective Sprint Planning Sessions

4 HN points • 30 Jul 23
💼 Business Management Planning Execution Teamwork Productivity
  1. Bulk of the sprint planning should happen 2 weeks leading up to the sprint start, allowing time for preparation and setting the stage for success.
  2. During the sprint planning session, focus on high-level sprint review and alignment, while detailed discussions should occur prior to the meeting.
  3. Each team member should take ownership and drive their work stream, creating tickets and breaking down work into manageable chunks, ensuring a proactive and self-driven approach.
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From Chaos to Clarity: The Essential Guide to Personal Knowledge Management

4 implied HN points • 03 Jan 23
  1. Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is the intentional process of managing information daily.
  2. Benefits of PKM include connecting ideas for new insights, creating future value, and tackling complex problems.
  3. Building a successful PKM system involves understanding your needs, experimenting with tools, and developing strategies for success.

Power Of Prospection

2 HN points • 29 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Psychology Creativity Mindfulness Imagination Personal Growth
  1. Engaging in daydreaming and prospection can be beneficial for creativity and innovation.
  2. The Default Mode Network in our brain is active during daydreaming and helps us imagine and plan new ideas.
  3. Tips for enhancing daydreaming include carving out dedicated time, focusing on positive outcomes, using visual cues, practicing mindfulness, and seeking novel experiences.

How to hire engineering talent without the BS

2 implied HN points • 02 Mar 23
💼 Business Hiring Interviewing Technical Skills Recruitment
  1. Assessing engineering talent should focus on real-world problem-solving skills rather than memorization or speed.
  2. Conducting effective technical interviews involves being transparent about the process, asking questions that reflect the job's demands, and ensuring consistency among interviewers.
  3. Show empathy during interviews, guide the candidate through the process, and provide timely feedback to create a positive candidate experience.

The Role of a System Architect

1 HN point • 08 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Architecture Agile Methodology Career progression
  1. Having a System Architect can lead to improved alignment and coordination across teams, enhanced technical expertise, improved quality and performance, and reduced technical debt.
  2. The role of a System Architect can harmonize with the Agile methodology by providing guidance and direction to teams on technical aspects while being a facilitator and coach.
  3. Guiding principles for a System Architect include valuing people, effective communication, simplicity in design, embracing change, customer-centric solutions, delivering quality, and agile documentation and modeling.

How To Own Your Growth As A Software Engineer

2 implied HN points • 22 Jul 22
  1. Be adaptable in your career growth journey by understanding what is needed at each level and being willing to learn and evolve.
  2. Use tools like The Rigor/Relevance Framework® to guide your growth and track your progress as a software engineer.
  3. Advocate for yourself by reflecting on your achievements, communicating effectively, and sharing your work to create opportunities for growth.

The Art Of Crafting Effective Pull Requests

2 implied HN points • 08 Aug 21
  1. Creating separate branches and scoping changes in Pull Requests help in easy review and faster merging.
  2. Drafting a PR allows for early feedback and ensures that changes interact well with the codebase.
  3. When publishing a PR, focus on clear communication, self-review, and providing necessary artifacts to aid reviewers.

Techniques for Effective Software Development Effort Estimation

2 implied HN points • 03 Mar 21
  1. When estimating software development effort, ensure clear scoping by aligning on requirements and deliverables with stakeholders.
  2. Before estimating effort, conduct technical exploration to understand system changes needed and address technical debt.
  3. Consider capacity planning by factoring in your time, potential risks, and deployment processes to provide a more accurate estimate.

GPT-What: Intro to the next big thing

2 implied HN points • 24 Jul 20
  1. GPT-3, an unsupervised transformer language model with 175 billion parameters, is capable of performing a wide range of tasks with few-shot learning.
  2. GPT-3's capabilities include acting as a search engine, tabulating structured data, designing UI, and even writing code, showcasing its versatility and power.
  3. Despite its impressive abilities, GPT-3 has limitations such as data quality issues with biases, dependence on priming for good results, lack of competitive advantage due to shared model access, and API functionality uncertainties.