Paul Grenyer

by Will Larson ISBN-13: 978-1736417911 Will Larson’s staff engineer archetypes didn’t really resonate with me and neither did the use of the word “staff”, which isn't really explained. Some of the descriptions of operating as a staff engineer were really good. They taught me a few things and reaffirmed some others. I loved the idea of a Right Hand, which is like the Hand of the King in Game of Thrones. Also, the importance of ‘being in the room’ was well explained. The book overplays alignment with seniors to the point of sucking up to get what you want, which I found disingenuous. If you’re operating at that level you should be prepared to challenge authority. I didn’t relate to the suggested guidance for getting promoted to staff engineer, perhaps because I’ve always done it by moving to a new company - which Larson also covers, but only really gets a light touch. Just over half the book is stories from other staff engineers. I wasn’t sure I’d get value from reading those, so I a...

Last week I was back at the ACCU Conference in Bristol, for the first time since I gave an opening keynote in 2019 . In March 2020, COVID hit the UK and I got out of the habit of attending and speaking at conferences. Plus the ACCU Conference, and the organisation in general, took a big step back towards C++ and that hasn’t been relevant to me for nearly two decades. It’s taken until now, 2025 for me to want to talk again, and I was really pleased to be accepted for the ACCU Conference again. It was just a 20 minute session and I only attended for the day I was speaking. There was enough varied content for it to be interesting to me and I’m hoping to be back for the full conference next year. I really enjoyed attending and it was great to catch up with people I hadn’t seen for years. I felt re-engaged and particularly liked being asked if I’d been to nor(DEV):con . Learning to stop writing code (and why you won't miss it) Daisy Hollman I should have read the summary of the openin...

So you think you can lead a team? I’ve been talking and writing a lot about leading a software engineering team in 2025. I started thinking about it more deeply the year before when I decided to give a colleague, who was moving into team leading, some advice: 'Doing the work' isn't the only way to add value Remember to delegate Pick your battles Talk to your team every day Out of this came a talk, “So you think you can lead a team?” which I gave at work, at meetups and at conferences in various different formats during the first quarter of 2025. Here I am looking at Remember to Delegate and an idea which came out of discussion around the talk, The Triangle of Trust, in more detail. Delegate Delegation is a crucial skill for any team lead, yet it is often one of the most challenging aspects of leadership to master. Many leaders, particularly those who have risen through the ranks as individual contributors, struggle to let go of tasks, fearing a loss of control or a dip in ...

Apparently ‘So Good’ stood in at the last minute for someone else who couldn’t make the tour. I know established bands like to help out new bands, and that’s to be applauded, but So Good’s reinvention of Shampoo with worse lyrics should probably have been passed over. Having said that, they gave it their all and they clearly believe in what they’re doing. Skunk Anansie, for me, were at their best with Stoosh. Post Orgasmic Chill and Sunburnt and Paranoid are good, but it’s always the singles that stand out. A good third to a half of their set went by before I recognised anything. It didn’t matter though, it all sounded so good. Ace is a better riff writer than he is a live player. His playing didn’t sound right in lots of places and for one song his guitar was clearly out of tune. The crowd didn’t care though. Every song received an enthusiastic response. Skin jumped into the crowd on several occasions, catching her minder out the first time - his face was a picture. At one point she r...

Infectious Generosity by Chris Anderson ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0753560495 I was recommended this book, out of the blue, by a colleague. I am not entirely sure why, but now that I’ve finished it I am looking forward to finding out! Infectious Generosity looks at the state of generosity in the world and looks at the ways in which it might be improved with lots of real world examples of people who have been generous and a framework for becoming more generous. Most importantly, it explores how being generous, even in small ways which have little cost to you, makes you happy. It takes a good hard look at the internet, especially social media and how, in the author's opinion, it is a massive source of evil in the world. He examines everything from cyber bullying to toxic masculinity. But then he describes how, with just a few simple changes to the way we approach the internet and social media, we could turn it into an even bigger force for good and encourages the reader to do so. The part of ...

 The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Ken Blanchard, Hal Burrows ISBN-13: 978-0007116980 When I made the move to lead engineer from senior engineer my instinct was still to try and fix everything for my engineers rather than get them to complete their own tasks, or as Ken Blanchard puts it, Monkeys. It was useful and interesting to read about someone in a very similar situation, how it affected them and their family and how they eventually overcame it with four simple rules: Rule 1: Describe the Monkey: The dialog must not end until appropriate “next moves” have been identified and specified. Rule 2: Assign the Monkey: All Monkeys shall be owned and handled by the lowest organisational level consistent with their welfare. Rule 3: Insure the Monkey: Every Monkey leaving your presence on the back of one of your people must be covered by one of two insurances: Recommend, then act Act, then advise. Rule 4: Check on the Monkey: Proper follow up means healthier Monkeys. Every Monke...