The Basics / Eric Clemmons

This is my version of Thorsten Ball’s “The Basics”.

I consider these to be the behaviors that make you a catalyst in engineering teams and product-centric organizations.

These behaviors have caused me to stand-out, become the “go to” person for overcoming the status quo, and be sought out for input across team boundaries.

Always ask why these changes matter. This needs to define directionally where the project is going and why this change will make it (or its users) successful.
Code is ephemeral and, in retrospect, wrong to some degree. Once you recognize this, you can be objective & pragmatic on whether the effort is worth it. (Or your emotional investment.)
Self-comment your PRs. Leave a guided tour of the why behind your changes and the trade-offs you made, especially if you recognize you’re deferring a change.
Rarely block PRs. Default to Approving. If there’s risk, your culture or process is where things should be fixed.
You’re trading time for money. Remember what you’re paid to do. It’s “work” for a reason.

Give me the courage to change what can be changed, the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other. – The Serenity Prayer
Unblock yourself for 15-30m before asking for help. That will give a teammate context to get you unblocked almost immediately. Otherwise, they won’t even accept your meeting invite.
Set an Agenda and Goal for every meeting. Literally say “This meeting is over when we get an answer to X, Y, & Z.” Enjoy you’re time back!
Favor immediate end-to-end validation first. Then, pour concrete around it with tests.
Scratch others’ itches. Making 1 small improvement each week that helps others is how you earn influence, trust, & support.
Don’t answer immediately. Your first thought is going to be wrong. Sit with it, type up your point. Then offer it if it’s still relevant.
Be silent. When waiting for your turn in a meeting, count to 7 in your head. Make space for others to speak & think.
Work backwards. Answer “what does this solution look like?” before turning it into action. If it’s still ambiguous, your effort should be malleable to match.
Lead demos. Visibility = Impact.
Praise & thank the contributions of others. Often.
Make visualizations. Put in the extra time to turn words into a diagram or a graphic. Humans buy in to shiny things more than well-researched words.
Don’t schedule same-day meetings.
Set & meet expectations, every week. You usually won’t even need a full 40 hours.
Stress what you’re not doing. What a solution solves & how is important, but it’s more important to stress the trade-offs and things off the table.
Let promotions & raises happen as a result of your actions. Chasing something that’s subjective & outside of your control is frought with peril.
Learn to be content. Every day.
Afford others the freedom to (safely) fail.
Jobs are temporary. Relationships are what matters. Would you go to bat for them? Would they for you?