The End of Engineering's Blank Check: Accountability in Software Leadership • Laura Tacho & Charles Humble
This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.https://gotopia.techLaura Tacho - CTO at DX & Executive Coach at Laura Tacho ConsultingCharles Humble - Freelance Techie, Podcaster, Editor, Author & ConsultantRESOURCESLaurahttps://x.com/rhein_weinhttps://bsky.app/profile/lauratacho.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lauratachohttps://lauratacho.comCharleshttps://bsky.app/profile/charleshumble.bsky.socialhttps://linkedin.com/in/charleshumblehttps://mastodon.social/@charleshumblehttps://conissaunce.comLinkshttps://getdx.com/research/measuring-ai-code-assistants-and-agentshttps://www.conissaunce.com/professional-skills-shortcut.htmlhttps://getdx.com/research/measuring-developer-productivity-with-the-dx-core-4https://dora.devhttps://getdx.com/blog/understanding-dora-metricshttps://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124https://getdx.com/blog/space-metricshttps://getdx.com/research/devex-what-actually-drives-productivityhttps://getdx.com/news/introducing-genai-impact-reportDESCRIPTIONLaura Tacho, CTO at DX and executive coach, shares her take on the challenging transition from technical contributor to business leader. She discusses the most common leadership skill gaps she sees in CTOs, particularly around setting clear expectations without falling into the "micromanagement spiral of doom".Laura explains the development of the DX Core 4 framework for measuring developer productivity through four balanced dimensions:• Speed• Effectiveness• Quality• ImpactShe emphasizes the critical importance of connecting technical work to business outcomes, arguing that the era of engineering having a "blank check" is over and that today's leaders must think like business leaders who speak in terms of ROI and impact. The conversation with Charles Humble also covers emerging trends in AI-assisted development and unconventional approaches to performance management.RECOMMENDED BOOKSWill Larson • An Elegant Puzzle • https://amzn.to/4gb9VyCWill Larson • The Engineering Executive's Primer • https://amzn.to/3UURQuTMeri Williams • The Principles of Project Management • https://amzn.to/4lj5B1GDaniel H. Pink • Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us • https://amzn.to/3UHx535Kathy Sierra • Badass • https://amzn.to/4b9fb2VJames Stanier • Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager • https://amzn.to/3vHrx1EBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
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Reliability Engineering Mindset • Alex Ewerlöf & Charity Majors
This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club.http://gotopia.tech/bookclubAlex Ewerlöf - Senior Staff Engineer at Volvo Cars & Author of "Reliability Engineering Mindset"Charity Majors - Co-Founder & CTO of honeycomb.io & Co-Author of "Observability Engineering"RESOURCESAlexhttps://bsky.app/profile/alexewerlof.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alexewerlofhttps://www.alexewerlof.comCharityhttps://twitter.com/mipsytipsyhttps://linkedin.com/in/charity-majorshttps://charity.wtfhttps://www.honeycomb.io/blog/slos-are-the-api-for-your-engineering-teamDESCRIPTIONAlex Ewerlöf shares his journey from product engineering to reliability engineering and discusses the practical challenges of implementing Google's SRE practices in real-world companies.He emphasizes the significant gap between Google's idealized SRE approach — which he links to "a fantastic chef's recipe for Michelin-starred restaurants" — and the reality most companies face with limited resources and infrastructure. The discussion covers key topics including the evolution from traditional operations to where engineers own their code in production, the critical importance of choosing SLIs that align with business impact, and how SLOs help set expectations and help the service consumers prepare non-functional requirements.Alex coined the law of 10x per 9 highlighting that reliability isn't free and requires careful cost-benefit analysis.RECOMMENDED BOOKSAlex Ewerlöf • Reliability Engineering Mindset • https://blog.alexewerlof.com/p/remC. Majors, L. Fong-Jones & G. Miranda • Observability Eng. • https://amzn.to/38scbmaC. Majors & L. Campbell • Database Reliability Eng. • https://amzn.to/3ujybdSAlex Hidalgo • Implementing Service Level Objectives • https://amzn.to/4pbWJxwBrian Klaas • Fluke • https://amzn.to/41V1CkoSimler & Hanson • The Elephant in the Brain • https://amzn.to/4fYCG1iBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
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How to Discover the Binary System as a Child • Simon Peyton Jones & Chelsea Troy
This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.https://gotopia.techSimon Peyton Jones - Key Contributor of Haskell & Engineering Fellow at Epic GamesChelsea Troy - MLOps Tech Lead at Mozilla & Lecturer at University of ChicagoRESOURCESSimonhttps://simon.peytonjones.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Peyton_Joneshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpjChelseahttps://chelseatroy.comhttps://social.clawhammer.net/@HeyChelseaTroyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseatroyLinkshttps://www.barefootcomputing.orghttps://www.computingatschool.org.uk/resources/2015/januaryhttps://www.computingatschool.org.uk/forum-news-blogs/2023/novemberhttps://chelseatroy.com/2025/05/14https://computingeducation.org.ukhttps://www.raspberrypi.org/blogDESCRIPTIONSimon discusses how a simple math problem led him to discover the binary system 55 years ago. He explores how to maintain the essence of computational thinking in an era where AI can instantly solve coding problems, emphasizing concrete, motivated contexts over abstract algorithms.The discussion spans from elementary programming to his unique role as a computing fellow at Epic Games, where he works with CEO Tim Sweeney to design the Verse programming language, proving that even big companies can prioritize denotational semantics over quarterly profits.RECOMMENDED BOOKSSimon Peyton Jones • The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages • https://amzn.to/3HQE0XnChelsea Troy • Remote Work Sucks • https://heychelseatroy.gumroad.com/l/remoteworksucksBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
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Breaking the Architecture Bottleneck • Andrew Harmel-Law & Marit van Dijk
This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.https://gotopia.techAndrew Harmel-Law - Technical Principal at Thoughtworks & Author of "Facilitating Software Architecture"Marit van Dijk - Developer Advocate at JetBrains, Java Champion & Open Source ContributorRESOURCESAndrewhttps://bsky.app/profile/andrewhl.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellawhttps://andrewharmellaw.github.ioMarithttps://bsky.app/profile/maritvandijk.bsky.socialhttps://linkedin.com/in/maritvandijkhttps://medium.com/@mlvandijkhttps://maritvandijk.comLinkshttps://facilitatingsoftwarearchitecture.comhttps://ruthmalan.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/pulseDESCRIPTIONAndrew Harmel-Law discusses their book "Facilitating Software Architecture" and how traditional architecture approaches often become bottlenecks that slow down high-performing development teams.Rather than architects making top-down decisions in isolation, they advocate for a facilitation approach centered on the "advice process".This collaborative method shifts the architect's role from decision-maker to conversation facilitator. The approach has proven successful even in traditional corporate environments, ultimately creating more maintainable code bases where development teams actually enjoy working and can respond effectively to changing requirements.RECOMMENDED BOOKAndrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfUBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
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How to Get People Excited about Functional Programming • Russ Olsen & James Lewis
This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024.https://gotocph.comRuss Olsen - Author of "Getting Clojure" & "Eloquent Ruby"James Lewis - Software Architect & Director at ThoughtworksRESOURCESRusshttps://bsky.app/profile/russolsen.bsky.socialhttps://hachyderm.io/@russolsenhttps://github.com/russolsenhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/russolsenhttp://russolsen.comJameshttps://bsky.app/profile/boicy.bovon.orghttps://linkedin.com/in/james-lewis-microserviceshttps://github.com/boicyhttps://www.bovon.orgRead the full abstract here:https://gotocph.com/2024/sessions/3522RECOMMENDED BOOKSRuss Olsen • Getting Clojure • https://amzn.to/3J8zI8sRuss Olsen • Eloquent Ruby • https://amzn.to/37gOhcGRuss Olsen • Design Patterns in Ruby • https://amzn.to/3r2uBjWBarry O'Reilly • Unlearn • https://amzn.to/3O3DQeIJez Humble, Joanne Molesky & Barry O'Reilly • Lean Enterprise • https://amzn.to/3Cpt6ETSarah Wells • Enabling Microservice Success • https://amzn.to/4aa8xrvMartin Fowler • Refactoring • https://amzn.to/3EVcHXQMatthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies • http://amzn.to/3sVLyLQBlueskyTwitterInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
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