Nick Rawe

Working with @rawe

Your personal manual for how to get the best out of our relationship.

If you're reading this page, there's a good chance we work together, or you may be considering working with me and want to better understand how I operate. If so, you're in the right place! This is a living document I maintain documenting... Me.

There are two reasons this exists:

  1. I'm hoping that by identifying and publishing my own values, principles and practices, it will be easier to know when I'm deviating and if that's for good reason or err; and

  2. It will hopefully help you to better understand me, and in turn to help us develop/maintain a productive working relationship.

Please note: this is not meant to replace us getting to know each other 😅.

Outline

  1. My Values
  2. If you report to me...
  3. Miscellany

My Values

  1. Humans First
    Great products which change the world and help humankind are created by informed, competent, and motivated humans. Good leadership sets out clear, specific missions; good management supports humans in their development, and removes obstacles from their paths. If it doesn't solve for humans, it's probably not the solution.

  2. Personal Development is Paramount
    Software is an ever-expanding set of challenges, technologies, practices, and knowledge. The mountain we stood on yesterday is sand today. As such, it is vital that time is made to learn, understand, and deliberately practice to keep our skills sharp.

  3. Engineering Excellence
    Developing software has a massive impact upon the economy, the environment, and social order more broadly. Those of us who work in development are massively privileged within our companies and broader society, often receiving lavish benefits as a result. To call ourselves "Engineers" therefore requires a commitment to the scientific method, to self-development, and best practices to honour that privilege and opportunity.

  4. Equity
    All humans — regardless of circumstance — face headwinds and tailwinds on a daily basis, often not visible to others. I do not believe we can achieve equality of outcome, or that its useful to ignore our differences, but I do believe we can provide people with the support needed to reduce the impact of headwinds and maximise tailwinds for others.

  5. Strong Opinions, Weakly Held
    I will always give a robust opinion based on my current position. My knowledge and understanding of the world is a revisionist process of new data and insights, so I work on the basis that I might be wrong more than I'm right. If you can point me in the direction of new information, I will try to be considerate of how that may affect any opinion I currently hold.

As My Report

  1. I'm not here to do your job
    My default assumption is that you've been hired because you're competent and I'll aim to grant you the full autonomy that rightly comes with that as much as is practical, and to take a position as supporter.

  2. Success Criteria
    As you join my org, I will work with you to establish goals over the following timescales: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. I expect this to be collaborative, but there will be specific targets I'll have in mind. As much as is possible, I'd like you to have a clear roadmap for being successful in your role.

  3. Personal Development
    I take my own personal development very seriously, and likewise I will also take a stake in yours. As part of your onboarding, we will spend time to put together your Personal Development Plan which you will be responsible for actioning and maintaining over the time we work together. We will regularly review your progress and adapt the plan as necessary.

  4. Regular, bi-directional feedback
    If there's an issue its better to have it out in the open as soon as possible so it can be dealt with; otherwise things fester. As such, if I feel that there is an area you need to improve on, I'll aim to give that to you in as timely a manner as possible. I aim to follow the Action-Impact-Do approach to feedback is objective and forward-focused, as much as is reasonable.

    I also expect the same in return: you should give me feedback to tell me how I can better help you. If you don't volunteer it (for whatever reason) I will periodically ask; its important for my growth and ensuring I'm best supporting you too.

  5. Our 1:1 is your agenda
    After your first week, I will expect you to set the cadence and agenda for your 1:1s as appropriate. The one word of caution: your 1:1 is not a status update; it's an opportunity for us to discuss your career, your goals, your life, and your headwinds. Use the time as you need.

  6. I care about your career
    I'm privileged to share a part of your journey with you, but its likely that we'll part ways at some point; that's okay. I care about your career and helping you to live your best life whatever shape that might take. If you aren't happy with what your doing, I might be able to help change it; if you are considering a change, feel free to use me as a soundboard.

Miscellany

My Name I prefer to be addressed as Nick, instead of Nicholas. In a room full of Nicks (which happens more often than you'd think), I am happy to go by my surname, Rawe. Rawe is pronounced as in "roar".

Your Name It is important to hear your name correctly; this is especially true if you are an international colleague. As such, I will endeavour to learn the proper pronunciation of your name in advance and will ask you if I got it right. Please feel free to correct me if at any time I'm getting your name incorrect as it is a problem I will want to address.

Calendar Etiquette My calendar is always kept up-to-date. I will have time blocked out for getting my own work done and you are welcome to block out time for us as you need.

Do not feel the need to DM me prior; all I ask is that there is a subject and a meaningful description/agenda/desired outcome given for the session. I will normally apply the same unless there is a good reason to omit.

I try and maximise my usable available time; as such, if you are planning a meeting I appreciate that being booked in as close to other meetings as possible enabling maximal "whitespace" in the calendar.

Slack To maximise my ability to deep work, I run with notifications turned off. If something is really life-and-death urgent, please call me on my mobile phone (I will provide you my number).

I will respond with a single long message over multiple short messages; if I feel a response would be longer to type than to discuss, I will call you instead of encouraging RSI.

I make judicious use of abbreviations for common idioms, such as LGTM ("Looks good to me"), AFAIK ("As far as I know"), etc.

I prefer to acknowledge messages using emojis reactions over platitudes such as "Okay" or "Thanks".