Accelerate is the empirical research behind books such as The Phoenix/Unicorn Project and (parts of) Software Engineering at Google. I loved it.
Accelerate describes 4 years of research into "What makes one technology organization more successful than another?".
It's not a framework, it's not the code they write, it's people and processes. The authors find that across thousands of teams and companies, iteration speed is the strongest predictor of commercial success. The faster you can bring products/features to market and respond to user feedback, the more successful you'll bee.
That is the thesis I've hinged my Scaling Fast book on so this is perfect timing 🤘
The book is well-worth a read. Short and to the point, lots of good advice. First part is takeaways. Second part is how to do research like this. Third part is 1 chapter on how to put this into practice – feels like a trailer for another book.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Your tech stack has zero predictive power of success
- Product delivery cycle times are key
- The "Iron Triangle" is wrong – faster delivery means fewer bugs and cheaper software (less rework, fewer missed requirements, less time)
These are DORA metrics, you should keep track of these if you aren't.
- Use continuous delivery – this has some pre-reqs (automated deploys, enough tests, ...) and directly leads to better DORA metrics
- Build a learning organization – use mistakes to improve the system, not punish individuals
- Build a generative collaborative culture
- Faster delivery with less bureaucracy makes employees happy and reduces burnout
- Use lean development practices – reduce work-in-progress, get feedback from production, make work visible
- Change approvals should be quick and easy
- Work in small batches
- DO NOT copy paste processes from other teams and companies. Focus on the outcomes and iterate your way to a process that works for your team and situation.
- Do surveys of what the day-to-day work feels like. Then fix the problems
Cheers,
~Swizec
Continue reading about What I learned from Accelerate
Semantically similar articles hand-picked by GPT-4
- Scaling Fast, my talk on lessons from tech startups
- Build better software with The Theory of Constraints
- Notes for my Scaling Fast talk next week
- What I learned from Software Engineering at Google
- The Phoenix Project recap
Learned something new?
Read more Software Engineering Lessons from Production
I write articles with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them. Fueled by lessons learned over 20 years of building production code for side-projects, small businesses, and hyper growth startups. Both successful and not.
Subscribe below 👇
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"
Have a burning question that you think I can answer? Hit me up on twitter and I'll do my best.
Who am I and who do I help? I'm Swizec Teller and I turn coders into engineers with "Raw and honest from the heart!" writing. No bullshit. Real insights into the career and skills of a modern software engineer.
Want to become a true senior engineer? Take ownership, have autonomy, and be a force multiplier on your team. The Senior Engineer Mindset ebook can help 👉 swizec.com/senior-mindset. These are the shifts in mindset that unlocked my career.
Curious about Serverless and the modern backend? Check out Serverless Handbook, for frontend engineers 👉 ServerlessHandbook.dev
Want to Stop copy pasting D3 examples and create data visualizations of your own? Learn how to build scalable dataviz React components your whole team can understand with React for Data Visualization
Want to get my best emails on JavaScript, React, Serverless, Fullstack Web, or Indie Hacking? Check out swizec.com/collections
Did someone amazing share this letter with you? Wonderful! You can sign up for my weekly letters for software engineers on their path to greatness, here: swizec.com/blog
Want to brush up on your modern JavaScript syntax? Check out my interactive cheatsheet: es6cheatsheet.com
By the way, just in case no one has told you it yet today: I love and appreciate you for who you are ❤️