I’ll be frank. I hate writing about myself, and yet, it’s that time of year again, where it needs to happen, or else you’ve just made it incredibly difficult for your manager to go to bat for you for rewards or a promotion. Here’s how I…
Have you ever noticed a slow interaction in your React application and aren’t quite sure how to start solving it? We might think that performance problems are too hard to fix because it’s too difficult to understand, but just like with Debugging Hard Things, don’t despair! We…
Some problems can be hard for us to debug because we think it’s too difficult to understand. Signs that this may be happening is if we start making wild guesses, we try the same thing over and over again, or copy and paste a solution we don’t understand…
Sometimes pull requests can get stuck during code review. In many cases, it’s not because the changes were unneeded, but because the conversation just appears to… well, stop. I’ll walk through five common problems pull requests get trapped in and what you can do as a reviewer to…
Sustainable remote communication requires being intentional and mindful of yours and other’s time. In distributed companies, we can’t bump into each other in hallways, have casual coffee chats, or even be able to offer a proactive helping hand if a teammate looks confused. Every conversation: be it in…
Congratulations! You are in a new management role. Now what? Remember these three things: don’t fall into the safety of your old job, listen, and provide useful feedback. These are the three most important insights I gained from working as a manager at Automattic. Don’t Fall into the…
The following is a collection of my thoughts about what makes a good code review. This is a repost from the internal Calypso blog with a few modifications made from feedback. I have also included a few tips to structure PRs in a reviewer friendly way. It’s my hope…
I work for Automattic a completely 100% distributed company with employees from all around the world. Once a year we hold the Grand Meetup, a frenetic week long event where the whole company flies in to blanket an unsuspecting off-season ski resort with our own wifi and friendly Automatticians. It’…