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Flow

Engineering for the Rest of Us by Sarah Drasner​

Can you think of the last time you felt truly immersed in a task? The last time you forgot about time and space and even yourself. Some call it flow state...

We as managers should create an environment where flow state can exist as much as possible. A few conditions need to be met:

  • You are aligned on the base premises of the work.
  • Your work is challenging, but not impossible.
  • You feel a sense of togetherness with your team and peers, that you're all building something together and have each others backs. Your values are not at odds with the work at hand.
  • You feel respected.
  • You get fair and timely feedback on your tasks. This does not necessarily have to be human feedback. It can also come in the form of compilation success, tests passing, or PRs going through.
  • Upon completing tasks and working hard for the company, you get fair pay, bonuses, promotions, and raises.
  • You feel a loss of sense of self when performing your work. You are doing something for the sake of the task, not for politics or to be right. Rather you are doing the best work possible for the best possible outcomes. As such, you care more about continuous improvements than your own ego.
  • You feel like people believe in you and what you're working on." [7]