Episode 435 | Eric Brechner - Responding Honorably

Guest:

Eric Brechner

@ericbrechner

Eric Brechner talks with Dave Rael about software, management, relationships, family, boundaries, expectations, and responding honorably to mistakes

Eric is a productivity software engineering manager for Azure Production Infrastructure Engineering. He is widely known within the engineering community as his alter ego, I.M. Wright. Prior to his current assignment, Eric managed development for Xbox and Windows engineering services and the Xbox.com web sites, was director of engineering learning and development for Microsoft Corporation, and managed development for a shared feature team in Microsoft Office. Before joining Microsoft in 1995, he was a Senior Principal Scientist at Boeing, and a developer for Silicon Graphics, GRAFTEK, JPL, and Bank Leumi. Eric has published two books on software best practices, holds eight patents, a BS and MS in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. He is an Affiliate Professor evenings at the University of Washington's Bothell campus.

Chapters: 0:16 - Dave introduces the show and Eric Brechner3:01 - Parenting, software work, and management9:42 - Expectations and healthy boundaries13:43 - Eric on becoming a manager17:14 - Eric on teaching18:35 - Eric on schooling22:16 - Eric on writing28:37 - The re-invention of Microsoft and Eric on being who you are at work and setting your boundaries36:26 - Eric's story of failure - severe unintended consequences44:23 - Eric's book recommendations48:50 - Eric's top 3 tips for delivering more value52:34 - Keeping up with Eric

Resources: I.M. Wright's "Hard Code" I.M. Wright's "Hard Code" in Podcast Form Agile Project Management with Kanban (Developer Best Practices) - Eric Brechner I. M. Wright's Hard Code (Developer Best Practices) - Eric Brechner Jim Fay - Love and Logic Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity - Kim Scott Joel On Software - Joel Spolsky's Blog Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction, Second Edition - Steve McConnell

Eric's book recommendation: C Programming Language, 2nd Edition - Brian W. Kernighan Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations - Nicole Forsgren PhD Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too - Adele Faber

Eric's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Love your customers and partners Focus on iteration and iterating quickly Respond honorably to mistakes