This week I figured out how Roles and Users and things are supposed to work in AWS. From that, I’ve done some fun work to clean up bits of our infrastructure that needed a spring clean. I’ve also on-boarded permanent staff and contractors.

Despite not getting that promotion last week, I seem to have got that promotion. You know what I mean?

Work

Work is the big ticket item this week. I’ve brought on-board some contractors, and I’m trying to do the work of setting goals and a vision and then getting out of the way. I think I’m doing okay, but I need to get some feedback before I get too confident in that assessment. Nonetheless, I feel okay about it.

I’ve also managed the on-boarding of two new team members, and that’s been a great opportunity to review what documents need updating. Thankfully it’s actually not too many! I’ve also had a chance to start taking them through our codebase and pointing them towards resources that will help them get to grips with what we do. Before long, they’ll have a better grip of this than I do. And that a consummation devoutly to be wished.

I also put together a last minute briefing. And all of this feels good, you know ? I feel like I’m getting back some of the dynamism I miss when all I’m doing is writing code. With that being said, I don’t feel like I’m writing a lot of code. I’m mostly managing and organising, or at least I have been this week. I am aware, I itch, at the knowledge that there’s work piling up that I’m not doing. It is definitely less important. I am confident I am prioritising correctly. And yet I am aware, and uncomfortable, with the knowledge that work is not being done and I’ve not acknowledged it or passed it off to anyone else.

I think this is that same difficult shift I’ve encountered before, where I have to move from individual contributor and in doing so not just let go of things but also accept that some things won’t be done. Running counter to that is how much I should insist on certain things being done. For example: I believe in weeknotes. I believe in communicating outwards, upwards, laterally, because I think it improves general understanding of what we’re doing and encourages the team to actually think about how to explain what they’re doing. I think it improves internal strategic thinking and external understanding of our strategy.

I don’t have a whole lot of evidence for that, just anecdata. I can also insist, as a manager, that they’re done. Should I? Am I taking away the autonomy of the team? Or is it fair to say that sometimes I’ll just know the best how of doing things?

A lot to think about. And fewer days per week to think about them, though I’m not complaining. We could make a habit out of it, you know.

MiSc

This week’s random page: the Dark Web. The Dark Web is a really interesting reminder that what people understand as “the Internet” is mostly just specific protocols and software that’s been designed to operate with this protocols. There’s a whole other Web out there, communicating in ways most people will never experience. It doesn’t have to mean scary or illegal – although it oftentimes is – it’s just a different way of communicating.

(Are there parallels to cultural and social groups?)

This session continues to slog along. I was dangerously close to having opinions about the shakeup of ISO27002 in 2022, but I went for a walk and the feeling passed. The lecturer is interesting and clearly passionate about the topic – nobody who isn’t could rattle off the different sub-committees involved in drafting standards – and we had our first webinar with the course leader.

I am noticing that already I’m using some of this knowledge in my day to day work. I’m thinking more carefully about protocols, and about how to secure things in ways that are easy for other people to manage. As an example, I’ve pitched for a piece of work that should result in nobody on our team needing to store credentials locally, which I think could be a big win. It’s also something I’m looking forward to showing off at our show and tell because at a technical level it’s decently complicated – or at least, one of the more decently complicated things I’ve ever done.

Mentoring

New section alert!

I’ve currently got two mentees on the go. One, with whom I’m doing something closer to coaching, and one with whom I’m doing some programming. I’m finding coaching more stretching, because it requires me to take a really hard back seat and not offer advice. However, she is doing a great job at giving me feedback about where she wants help most, and what she’d like to focus on, which I’m finding really helpful. She is using me to get herself set up for a promotion, and most of that just means boosting her confidence. An easy task, as she’s easily one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met.

On the programming – I’m working with someone significantly cleverer than me, and although she’s coming to programming from a different route to me, she’s already asking really good, complex questions. Questions like: what is a callable, actually? And: what is the difference between yield and return? And: how does it know what type things should be?

These are computer science questions, and I am finding myself having to run to keep ahead of her. And that’s awesome. It’s really fantastic to get these kinds of questions, because it forces me to re-examine my own thinking.