Want to build a stronger #EngineeringCulture?
Lead by example Embrace "glue work" Take full ownership Be self-aware about your career path
Dive deeper on the #InfoQ #podcast with Thiago Ghisi for more insights: https://bit.ly/4fJ7GCp
#transcript included
Ever wondered how to tackle a massive test migration without losing your mind?
Sergii Gorbachov, Staff Engineer at Slack, reveals how #Slack migrated an incredible 20,000 tests in just 10 months! He shares their unique approach, combining AI with traditional coding methods.
The big lesson? #AI isn't a magic fix. Human oversight and conventional tools were essential to make it work.
Watch the #InfoQ #videopodcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Mm-fHvuj_00
In Praise of "Normal" Engineers
https://charity.wtf/2025/06/19/in-praise-of-normal-engineers/
The tech hiring model is broken. We see mass layoffs happening at the same time as a critical skills shortage. It's an inefficient system that serves no one well.
What if we used LLMs for something more interesting than generating boilerplate? What if we used them as a core component in a system to rapidly reskill our existing, loyal talent for the jobs we desperately need to fill?
In my latest blog post, I explore this from an organizational engineering perspective. The biggest blockers aren't technical—they're cultural and financial. It's about having the courage to invest in people, retain invaluable domain knowledge, and stop the costly churn.
I'd be curious to hear what other devs think. Is this a viable path forward?
Read the full post: https://villetakanen.com/blog/biz-future-of-careers/
Rethinking Tech Debt: A Culture Shift for Sustainable Engineering Velocity
In the fast-paced world of software development, tech debt is often misunderstood as a single, isolated problem. However, the reality is far more complex, requiring a cultural shift in how teams appro...
and Raku 
. Yes, you read that right — Rust 
out, Perl and Raku in.
: Raku’s powerful syntax and Perl’s mature libraries gave our teams the agility to iterate faster and express complex logic with clarity.
: Our engineers experienced a significant boost in productivity. Fewer lines of code, less boilerplate, and highly flexible scripting accelerated both prototyping and deployment.
: Perl's vast ecosystem allowed seamless integration with legacy systems, saving us months of re-engineering work.
: While not as trendy, the Perl and Raku communities provided deep, battle-tested solutions to problems we faced. More stable code, happier devs, and improved time to market.A Team / orchestra isn't great because everyone plays the same instrument.
It's great because each musician plays their part well - with room to rehearse.
Forcing harmony through buzzwords is like conducting with a broomstick.
The violinist doesn't need to learn drums just because your last band did. Instruments don't play without musicians.
Good conductors listen, adapt, and don't drown the music in noise.
Otherwise, congrats, you’re supervising noise with potential.
Why "Normal" Engineers Are the Key to Great Teams
Companies Fail Tech Talent
Growth Needs Patience, Not Force
Telling tech people to "learn on the job" while drowning them in tasks is like giving someone a book 
and setting their chair on fire 
.
Spoiler: they won’t finish the book.
Non-tech people evolve freely.
Tech people? Trapped in deadlines, ticket counts, and feature delivery. No time. No space. No iteration.
"Agile", "Self-organized", "Cross-functional"… Great buzzwords. But without leadership, it's just a Buzzword Bingo 
.
What's the point of training when there's no time to apply it? Like learning to weld while your house is still made of straw.
Fix it: Treat tech as a service, not a feature factory. Let them own the tech product. Request technical, not just business-driven, features. Give space for scalability & maintainability. Allow growth to happen naturally, not by force.
Make tech people proud of impact in their field, not just yours.
9.5% of engineers contribute no visible work. $11.6 billion wasted annually.
Before you blame "ghost engineers," ask:
Are priorities clear? Are we measuring what matters? Are teams too big?
Blame fixes nothing. Better systems do.
Here's how leaders can solve the real problem: https://link.testdouble.com/3ge
Digitaal leiderschap is bij het volledig digitaal gebaseerde Picnic anders in dan bij menig ander bedrijf. CTO Daniel Gebler vertelt dat leiden vanuit alleen een tech-visie niet volstaat.
https://www.agconnect.nl/carriere/leiderschap/voor-zicht-op-het-grote-geheel-moet-je-op-details-ingaan
#digitaalleiderschap #engineeringculture
#AGConnect #SijthoffMedia
Explore the importance of #empathy in #EngineeringCulture with Shane Hastie & Cassandra Shum, VP of Field Engineering at Relational AI.
Discover key insights into building a cohesive & effective team!
Listen to the #InfoQ #podcast here https://bit.ly/4d5hRzk
Podcast-Empfehlung der Woche: Kent Beck, der Erfinder von #ExtremeProgramming, erzählt von seiner Zeit bei Facebook und von deren #EngineeringCulture.
Onboarding new software engineers is crucial for your team’s success Want to onboard new software engineers effectively, efficiently and integrate them well into your culture? Check out this article for some proven strategies and best practices:
https://github.com/SoftwareEngineeringEcosystem/Blog/blob/main/Onboarding-Agile-Software-Engineers/Onboarding-software-developers-java-javascript-abap.md
Really happy to have played a role in developing this statement of #EngineeringCulture at my employer, #Snyk: https://snyk.io/blog/snyk-engineering-culture/
Really like this piece on engineering culture at Stripe.
https://steinkamp.us/post/2022/11/10/what-i-learned-at-stripe.html
#softwaredevelopment #engineeringculture
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