Talks I like

Here I promote some talks I consider profound and relevant or just edutaining.

The art of destroying software

by Greg Young, 2014, 42min.

Greg talks about a different perspective on managing complexity in software projects by focusing on keeping units of code so small that they are disposable and easily rewritable in approximately one week of work for one person.

Having this mindset forbids a developer to accumulate big chunks of code that are too big to refactor or more concrete to big too just throw away and rewrite.

Gaining the freedom to just rewrite certain parts of a codebase once the domain problem has been better understood would reduce the business risk dramatically for a partial rewrite. to big too just throw away and rewrite.

While I am flirting with the fundamental idea I still wonder how to avoid the god objects in a codebase and instead properly slice an application in such small parts that I could arrive at such an disposable architecture.

Why Leaders Eat Last

by Simon Sinek, 2013, 45min.

Simon is a great narrator (watch his other talks on his TED speaker profile). This talk is related to his in 2014 published book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't.

He combines aspects of behavioural science and bio-chemical processes that power humans towards collaboration and leadership. Having on one hand people trusting other peoeple with their lives and on the other those people effectively earning their trust.

He presents a framework of ideas to explain the dynamics of leadership in a social group of people. Explaining each individuals motivation and using neurotransmitters (Dopamin, Endorphin, Serotonin, Oxytocin) and the hormone Cortisol.