Looking back at 2021
22 Dec 2021The end of the year is fast approaching and I thought I’d take some time to reflect on 2021.
What went well
Leading a team
I wrote about being a tech lead here.
I truly loved the work and learned so much as tech lead.
I think what I enjoyed most was the collaborative elements of leading a team. Engaging with my peers on technical vision and strategy, working with product, UCD, and delivery to develop our priorities, and then iterating on our plans.
I know this is the kind of work I’d like to do in the future in some form or another.
There are still some problems I’d like to learn to solve, but in the long term this is the direction I’d like to go.
Service assessment
It was an intense and sometimes stressful period and in that regard I’m glad it’s behind us.
However, we all learned a tremendous amount about the product and service, especially how we see it evolve over the next five years.
I think what stood out to me was how invigorating the cross collaboration felt. I relished the sessions we had with cybersecurity as well as UCD. I’d love to lean into that more in the future.
Big picture thinking
The service assessment gave me the opportunity to think about our product from a distance. What value does it deliver? Where do we excel and where can we improve?
It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day priorities on a service (OS or library upgrades, migrations to more effective tooling, bug fixes). The service assessment helped me step back from these issues to think about what an ideal service could look like
We’re lucky to work with a simple-ish system (there are pockets of complexity). Taking that step back affirmed my conviction that because our system is simple it has the potential to be a model of best practices through iteration.
The challenge for next year is to identify those areas of iteration while also balancing the day-to-day work we need to do.
What could’ve been better
Time coding
Much of 2021 was spent leading the team and growing leadership skills. I got to flex my communication, collaboration, and delivery muscles.
The role meant I wasn’t doing as much individual contribution and by the end of 2021 I’ve begun to really miss it.
I’d like to hand over the infrastructure lead role so I can focus on individual contribution.
There are more problems I’d like to learn how to solve.
Making 10% time
I didn’t make enough time in 2021 to focus on 10% projects.
The firebreak system (one week per quarter to focus on learning) was helpful to do deep dives into interests (positive psychology, FreeRADIUS), however I’d benefit from a more regular cadence.
My goal for 2022 is pick a project, preferably programming-related, which is focused and benefits the team.
Actions
Find a 10% time project which pushes me technically
Focus on individual contributor work
Perhaps step further back from leading