Leverage
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Every day, we prioritize how we spend our time. We can write some mundane code to solve a user's problem, create a presentation on effective use of a programming language, study a technical topic, or eat delicious cheeseburgers. Generally, we prioritize by return on investment (ROI), the value of a particular activity divided by its cost. So far, this is all obvious. (I must say, a cheeseburger sounds amazing right now...)
For a typical software development project, the investment component of ROI is typically measured in time, but sometimes there are other costs involved: monetary expenses, team morale, or perhaps even a negative impact to your customers' loyalty. It's harder to quantifiably predict the return from a particular project, but upsides can include increased revenue, decreased expenses, increased customer engagement and enjoyment, or new strategic opportunities.
There's an important component of ROI that will sound obvious as I explain it, but I've seen people fail to account for it, time and time again, in their own prioritizations. I'm referring to leverage.
Leverage: n. A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot.
If I'm an engineer and I write a bit of code that's unlikely to ever change, is rarely called, and has a minor use in the application, then it doesn't make any sense for me to spend a great deal of time refactoring and optimizing that code. By definition, work done on that code has low leverage.
However, if I write a bit of code that is unlikely to change, but will _often_ be called, then optimizing it makes more sense. The benefits of my work are multiplied by the number of times its used. However, since it won't change much, refactoring it might not be valuable.
OK, so what about code that's a critical component of the application, will change every time the customer asks for something new, and runs in 90% of the product's use cases? Work done on this code is extremely high-leverage, and not just for the above reasons. Since this code will be changing a lot, many engineers will cut their teeth on it. Thus, its style will influence the team's approach to future work. This is the code that sets the standard by which your application is built. (If you're a software engineer, you know what code in your application I'm referring to.) It's well worth your time and your team's time to pound this code into tip-top shape.
Now, how does your team develop software? If you can educate, motivate, and inspire such that everyone around you becomes more effective, you've just applied leverage at a much larger scale. This is why effective leaders are worth their weight in gold. Leaders are success amplifiers.
Further, how does your team _improve_ at developing software? Are you the kind of leader that can create an empowering, self-improving culture, where everyone around you is able to become a leader, all aligned around the same goals? If so, then you're applying exponentially more leverage, and influencing the lives of people several degrees outward from you. In return, the people around you will enrich your life, making you even more successful. These types of leaders are at the core of any successful organization.
Remember that applying leverage requires that you see the big picture, the world in which you work. Pay attention to the people around you, because their success is intrinsically tied to yours. When you next look through your todo list, ask yourself "which task is the pivot around which I can apply myself most effectively?"
Every day, we prioritize how we spend our time. We can write some mundane code to solve a user's problem, create a presentation on effective use of a programming language, study a technical topic, or eat delicious cheeseburgers. Generally, we prioritize by return on investment (ROI), the value of a particular activity divided by its cost. So far, this is all obvious. (I must say, a cheeseburger sounds amazing right now...)
For a typical software development project, the investment component of ROI is typically measured in time, but sometimes there are other costs involved: monetary expenses, team morale, or perhaps even a negative impact to your customers' loyalty. It's harder to quantifiably predict the return from a particular project, but upsides can include increased revenue, decreased expenses, increased customer engagement and enjoyment, or new strategic opportunities.
There's an important component of ROI that will sound obvious as I explain it, but I've seen people fail to account for it, time and time again, in their own prioritizations. I'm referring to leverage.
Leverage: n. A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot.
If I'm an engineer and I write a bit of code that's unlikely to ever change, is rarely called, and has a minor use in the application, then it doesn't make any sense for me to spend a great deal of time refactoring and optimizing that code. By definition, work done on that code has low leverage.
However, if I write a bit of code that is unlikely to change, but will _often_ be called, then optimizing it makes more sense. The benefits of my work are multiplied by the number of times its used. However, since it won't change much, refactoring it might not be valuable.
OK, so what about code that's a critical component of the application, will change every time the customer asks for something new, and runs in 90% of the product's use cases? Work done on this code is extremely high-leverage, and not just for the above reasons. Since this code will be changing a lot, many engineers will cut their teeth on it. Thus, its style will influence the team's approach to future work. This is the code that sets the standard by which your application is built. (If you're a software engineer, you know what code in your application I'm referring to.) It's well worth your time and your team's time to pound this code into tip-top shape.
Now, how does your team develop software? If you can educate, motivate, and inspire such that everyone around you becomes more effective, you've just applied leverage at a much larger scale. This is why effective leaders are worth their weight in gold. Leaders are success amplifiers.
Further, how does your team _improve_ at developing software? Are you the kind of leader that can create an empowering, self-improving culture, where everyone around you is able to become a leader, all aligned around the same goals? If so, then you're applying exponentially more leverage, and influencing the lives of people several degrees outward from you. In return, the people around you will enrich your life, making you even more successful. These types of leaders are at the core of any successful organization.
Remember that applying leverage requires that you see the big picture, the world in which you work. Pay attention to the people around you, because their success is intrinsically tied to yours. When you next look through your todo list, ask yourself "which task is the pivot around which I can apply myself most effectively?"