Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-03-08 03:19:44
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeff Lawson
- ISBN：0063018292
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Jeff Lawson， software developer turned CEO of Twilio， creates
a new
playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization， showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth， solve a wide range of business problems and drive digital transformation。
From banking and retail to insurance and finance， every industry is turning digital， and every company needs the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers。 The landscape has shifted from the classic build vs。 buy question， to one of build vs。 die。 Companies have to get this right to survive。 But how do they make this transition？
Software developers are sought after， highly paid， and desperately needed to compete in the modern， digital economy。 Yet most companies treat them like digital factory workers without really understanding how to unleash their full potential。 Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks。 From Google and Amazon， to one-person online software companies—companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning。 Lawson shows how leaders who build industry changing software products consistently do three things well。 First， they understand why software developers matter more than ever。 Second， they understand developers and know how to motivate them。 And third， they invest in their developers' success。
As a software developer and public company CEO， Lawson uses his unique position to bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing， creative software developers。 Ask Your Developer is a toolkit to help business leaders， product managers， technical leaders， software developers， and executives achieve their common goal—building great digital products and experiences。
How to compete in the digital economy？ In short: Ask Your Developer。
From banking and retail to insurance and finance， every industry is turning digital， and every company needs the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers。 The landscape has shifted from the classic build vs。 buy question， to one of build vs。 die。 Companies have to get this right to survive。 But how do they make this transition？
Software developers are sought after， highly paid， and desperately needed to compete in the modern， digital economy。 Yet most companies treat them like digital factory workers without really understanding how to unleash their full potential。 Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks。 From Google and Amazon， to one-person online software companies—companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning。 Lawson shows how leaders who build industry changing software products consistently do three things well。 First， they understand why software developers matter more than ever。 Second， they understand developers and know how to motivate them。 And third， they invest in their developers' success。
As a software developer and public company CEO， Lawson uses his unique position to bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing， creative software developers。 Ask Your Developer is a toolkit to help business leaders， product managers， technical leaders， software developers， and executives achieve their common goal—building great digital products and experiences。
How to compete in the digital economy？ In short: Ask Your Developer。
Reviews
Yixing J
，
sadly this book is very self-promotional and has a strong marketing purpose， I did not learn anything from it
Richard Bakare
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This book completely encapsulates the frustrations I have seen over my entire consulting career in trying to demonstrate a vision of how to innovate。 It also details a better roadmap for showing others how to achieve breakthroughs and the tools to do so。 Namely， by creating a culture of experimentation and creativity from the onset。 I am a big believer in the concept of the “Aggregation of Marginal Gains。” A core tenant of this philosophy is tweaking little things to get 1% improvements that com This book completely encapsulates the frustrations I have seen over my entire consulting career in trying to demonstrate a vision of how to innovate。 It also details a better roadmap for showing others how to achieve breakthroughs and the tools to do so。 Namely， by creating a culture of experimentation and creativity from the onset。 I am a big believer in the concept of the “Aggregation of Marginal Gains。” A core tenant of this philosophy is tweaking little things to get 1% improvements that compound when put together。 To identify these one percent improvements， you need to be creative and willing to experiment， a lot。 You also have to be ok with things not working out。 These “failures” should be learning opportunities and not blame sessions。 Those two key principles are what was missing from the conference room in a lot of my customer engagements。 Jeff Lawson does a great job of showing how the old top down， failure is not option， big business approach is getting eaten alive by startups who do the opposite。 Especially， when it comes to giving developers the space to creatively solve problems through experimentation and not requirements documents。 。。。more
João Cortez
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Excellent book on the human， organizational and management aspects of Software Development by Jeff Lawson - a developer himself and CEO of Twilio。 It touches very good modern practices， it's full of good advice and it contains a lot of statements that will make you think。 Very highly recommended。 Excellent book on the human， organizational and management aspects of Software Development by Jeff Lawson - a developer himself and CEO of Twilio。 It touches very good modern practices， it's full of good advice and it contains a lot of statements that will make you think。 Very highly recommended。 。。。more
Andrus
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The little there was information about the Twilio way of doing things was really insightful。 For example， the last chapter about devops was a great read/listen to someone not technical like me。 But then there were the numerous pages dedicated to motivate legacy companies to do “digital transformation” （5-10 years late？）， to cover the history of software development， to explain agile development， to promote building on Twilio。 This book tries to cover too much to too many audiences。 I wish there The little there was information about the Twilio way of doing things was really insightful。 For example， the last chapter about devops was a great read/listen to someone not technical like me。 But then there were the numerous pages dedicated to motivate legacy companies to do “digital transformation” （5-10 years late？）， to cover the history of software development， to explain agile development， to promote building on Twilio。 This book tries to cover too much to too many audiences。 I wish there would have been more specifics about 。。 asking the developers。 。。。more
Ric Poh Peng Wang
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Short and sweet。 I could see more value in my work after getting this book read about platform engineering。
Damir Prusac
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Well put elements od modern SW DevelopmentA number of good stories and insights how to develop products。 It is written a bit as a twillio marketing promotion material。
Shannon Clark
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The book to hand to senior execsI don’t know Jeff though full disclosure I do know Eric Ries who wrote the introduction to this book and I do know some of Twillio’s early investors and I’ve been a customer of theirs in the past at previous jobs （and I assume I will use them again at future companies）。 I’ve been online a few years longer than the author and my career has some parallels （multiple startups， stints at larger companies） and while I haven’t （yet） founded a billion dollar corporation m The book to hand to senior execsI don’t know Jeff though full disclosure I do know Eric Ries who wrote the introduction to this book and I do know some of Twillio’s early investors and I’ve been a customer of theirs in the past at previous jobs （and I assume I will use them again at future companies）。 I’ve been online a few years longer than the author and my career has some parallels （multiple startups， stints at larger companies） and while I haven’t （yet） founded a billion dollar corporation my advice to company executives as a part time CTO/COO is nearly identical to much of this book。 In fact I am likely to buy copies of this book for future clients。 So most definitely keep asking your developers - and strive to build organizations and structures to empower them and to connect all parts of your company to customers。 。。。more
Michelle
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Approachable narrative of the third technical wave of tech with the API economy。 Anyone in this space it is a must read。
Dom
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The first part of the book provides the annotated / "anecdoted" context of software development history。 I found it crip and informative， yet not overly surprising or new。 I really moved from liking to loving this book once Jeff gets into the nitty-gritty of how to build， nurture and unleash teams and with it digital companies。 It covers much， yet feels right， tight， and supported by many actionable hints， examples and a philosophy that I've been treasuring for a while， and after this book， feel The first part of the book provides the annotated / "anecdoted" context of software development history。 I found it crip and informative， yet not overly surprising or new。 I really moved from liking to loving this book once Jeff gets into the nitty-gritty of how to build， nurture and unleash teams and with it digital companies。 It covers much， yet feels right， tight， and supported by many actionable hints， examples and a philosophy that I've been treasuring for a while， and after this book， feel even better equipped to help nurture， live and build。 Thanks！ Keywording 3 words on a billboard outside San Francisco。 3 out of Features， Deadline， Certainty， and Quality possible at a time， wiggle on Features。 Ask Your Developer = mindset。 Behave compassionately but prioritize ruthlessly。 Benioff the SaaS launching coder。 Beware of coordination complexity。 Bezos' Brain Benders。 Build up the deep bench （e。g。 Amazon's Level 3 GMs） and learn by doing。 Code hairball vs。 microservices。 Commonality: Understanding the problem。 Customer Feel is the ultimate benchmark and multiplier。 Developer rush from direct customer pat: an addiction you wanna nourish。 Differentiation can't be bought， build it。 Digital native vs outsourceable IT cost center。 （Potential） Duplication of efforts crushes perfect synchronization any day。 ESOP for everyone， äh， yup！ Guardrails to set people free。 Hamers hammered it in（g）， UBS he does it again？ Hospitality， not only Service。 Identify with team， not function first。 Instill Importance， Urgency， Focus。 Invest in Infrastructure or be darned by FBATR。 Kanban， Kannst Bannen。 Keep coordination energy negligible， "talk more" ain't the game。 Keep things immediate， small is beautiful。 Learn to build。 Opt-in to complexity。 Permit failure， or fail。 Person that writes the code， wears the pager。 Pink-it！ RAPID without V， otherwise victims。 Platform， the force multiplier。 Safe to be uncertain。 Single-threaded leaders。 Start with the press release。 Tell hero journey to get great talents。 Truth-seekers， not truth-holders。 Write it down or it doesn't count。 。。。more
Jorge DeFlon
，
Una buena narrativa de las prácticas técnicas de desarrollo de software desde el punto de vista ejecutivo。Recomendable para todo gerente de desarrollo o director。
Tom Bayley
，
This is more than a software story。 It's a great insight into creating a culture with a growth mindset and a leadership philosophy that's particular suited on a successful organization which is growing rapidly from its success。 How to maintain the "secret sauce" as you grow and evolve your organization to meet the challenges posed by the future。 Jeff's insights are golden！ This is more than a software story。 It's a great insight into creating a culture with a growth mindset and a leadership philosophy that's particular suited on a successful organization which is growing rapidly from its success。 How to maintain the "secret sauce" as you grow and evolve your organization to meet the challenges posed by the future。 Jeff's insights are golden！ 。。。more
Noe Pion
，
Every big corp depends on software to increase its productivity。 This trend is not new : banks， insurances 。。。 have been using a lot of software for more than 25 years。 Yet， they are getting disrupted by new players on the field， who move extremely fast， and manage to acquire large client bases while keeping headcount small。 So， why couldn't the incumbents do it ？ This book will tell you。Lawson provides a thorough analysis of the organizational structures which make startups so _fast_ and danger Every big corp depends on software to increase its productivity。 This trend is not new : banks， insurances 。。。 have been using a lot of software for more than 25 years。 Yet， they are getting disrupted by new players on the field， who move extremely fast， and manage to acquire large client bases while keeping headcount small。 So， why couldn't the incumbents do it ？ This book will tell you。Lawson provides a thorough analysis of the organizational structures which make startups so _fast_ and dangerous for incumbents。 I imagine this will be useful for managers/execs in legacy corps and consultants。 Among others， he cites :- treating engineers as creatives， instead of Taylorism-like workers checking small-scoped tickets- creating an organization which places clients at its center， for real。- improving iteration speed through reorganization around small teams and microservices- investing in tools for engineers， the same way it is done for HR and Sales- improving tech infrastucture， which acts as a multiplier for tech productivityThere is much more， which is crafted around examples and edge cases， and made me node my head along。He also has few interesting points for people already in "fast" tech， which may be missed by non-technical people but have incredible implications。 One of them is around the commoditization of APIs。 The future of software may be about building elementary blocks used to build more complex software : this is the author's business at Twilio for communication， Stipe for payment， and was already predicted by Hamming's The Art of Doing Science and Engineering。 A crucial difference compared to buying custom-made softwares from IBM， Capgemini， 。。。 is that it enables companies to craft ONLY what makes their business special， and much better integrate with the rest of their software。The book is a quick read， necessary for everyone in legacy companies and wanting to start one， heavily recommended for people interested in organizational systems。 。。。more
Akhil Ramolla
，
For non Devs who want to bring change with software， this book is a master class on how to work with software engineers as of today。
Jake Singer
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First half of the book was Twilio history， and its place within the context of software development history。 Loved this， A+。 Second half was more or less a manifesto on how to run a more efficient and energizing software organization。 I was a big fan of this， but YMMV - this is really geared towards folks who are （1） execs trying to get the most out of their software engineering orgs， or （2） Founders looking for some inspiration on how to run development。 I think Product Managers might get some First half of the book was Twilio history， and its place within the context of software development history。 Loved this， A+。 Second half was more or less a manifesto on how to run a more efficient and energizing software organization。 I was a big fan of this， but YMMV - this is really geared towards folks who are （1） execs trying to get the most out of their software engineering orgs， or （2） Founders looking for some inspiration on how to run development。 I think Product Managers might get some value out of this too， though some of the descriptions of a ‘bad’ software process might hit too close to home for some。 It definitely triggered some of my Amazon PTSD， but was also inspiring as someone embarking on a new startup project。 4/5 depending on your context！ 。。。more
Rishabh Srivastava
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This was a guide aimed at teaching managers in legacy companies how to work with developers， though also acted as a thought leadership piece to attract customers and developers to Twilio。Had some useful points， but could’ve definitely been a 3-part blog post。- Running experiments and iterating quickly is everything right now。 outsourcing to agencies or hiring consultants to make software won’t do。 It’s slow， expensive， and generally doesn’t get you the results you need。 Outsourcing also signific This was a guide aimed at teaching managers in legacy companies how to work with developers， though also acted as a thought leadership piece to attract customers and developers to Twilio。Had some useful points， but could’ve definitely been a 3-part blog post。- Running experiments and iterating quickly is everything right now。 outsourcing to agencies or hiring consultants to make software won’t do。 It’s slow， expensive， and generally doesn’t get you the results you need。 Outsourcing also significantly reduces your speed of iteration- We’re moving away from solutions to enabling building blocks。 With these， we can empower internal teams to do so much more with their talents。 With solutions， there was little scope for change- For business people to work together with developers， they should share problems and not solutions。 Don’t ask them to grind out the code。 Just communicate the problem。 Then， let create their own specifications and just vet the specifications to make sure they address the problem- Management: Have small teams with single threaded leaders。 Then， have well documented “communication APIs” to foster effective communication across teams 。。。more
Wallis Chan
，
This is the best book I read on tech management。 Whether you are managing a small team of developers or running a startup， you can learn plenty from this book
Kanishk Dutt
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It’s a great modern way of building software and managing tech teams。 It is very practical advice for any product manager or any manager around how to build great software and get your developers to participate in a way that helps you win。 Great for unlocking potential from your development。 Have practiced a lot of things suggested and can testify to this advice。
Christopher M
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This book is phenomenal and a must read for anyone who works with software developers or in digital transformation but does not come from a technical/software development background。
Hesam Andalib
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Very good narrative of personal and professional experiences。 However， I think the author overemphasizes developers role and disregard the benefits that interdisciplinary collaboration brings to the table。 It is understandable because the product that his company sell is for developers as well。 I love the narrative of the work but I cannot consider it a reliable source of entrepreneurship knowledge and experience for its lack of comprehensiveness。
Davin
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Great read so insightful thoughts
Sam Aparicio
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If Marc Andreessen pointed in "Sofware Is Eating The World" to a new breed of software disruptors， Jeff Lawson explains in "Ask Your Developer" how the disruption works and what the disrupted can do about it。It identifies customer experience as the primary frame of reference for strategic success and makes the case that "you can't buy differentiation。 You can only build it。"So companies are either going to go on radical digital transformation journeys or die。 For me， the more interesting implica If Marc Andreessen pointed in "Sofware Is Eating The World" to a new breed of software disruptors， Jeff Lawson explains in "Ask Your Developer" how the disruption works and what the disrupted can do about it。It identifies customer experience as the primary frame of reference for strategic success and makes the case that "you can't buy differentiation。 You can only build it。"So companies are either going to go on radical digital transformation journeys or die。 For me， the more interesting implications of Lawson's ideas are for software companies。 Without openly stating it， he's predicting the demise of app vendors， or at least their demotion to commodities。 He's framing a new imperative for anyone that wants to remain king of the enterprise software hill， which is to build the most important APIs and microservices that developers at enterprises will pick to build their customer-facing apps。If this how it will play out in the next decade， there will be wide-ranging implications for how software is marketed， sold， and serviced。 Because the buyer is the developer。One cannot simply dismiss this book as a puff piece or an extended advertorial for a tech company。 There is some of that。 But at its core this book starts to provide a roadmap for those insiders responsible for navigating the broad transformation happening across the enterprise world。 。。。more
Lau PB
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