Ask HN: What are some strategies to create positivity in the engineering cycle?

3 points

5 years ago

The process of software engineering is rife with negativity. Some examples:

  - Code review is important, but it is a necessarily a critique, and sustained code review can wear both submitter and reviewer down.
  - Bugs happen. And they get fixed! But you'd be lying if you said you didn't check to see if you were the one that introduced the bug.
  - Dealing with fires.
  - Staying on top of security is constant and infrequently terrifying.
  - Open source software rarely sees all the value it brings to the table; conversation usually focuses on issues and shortcomings.

Negativity abounds. It's a wonder that all of our mental states aren't reduced to the equivalent of an anxious chihuahua. Has anyone been successful in introducing some positivity in the engineering process? I have precious few examples:

  - GitLab selects an MVP [0] for its releases, putting their name at the top of the release notes, very publicly awarding recognition.
  - GitHub has introduced the "Discussions" page recently, frequently containing a "Show and Tell" category [1], helping open source maintainers see their hard work in action.
  - Gamification and badge awarding has been explored [2], although it's non-trivial to introduce (and if there's talent disparity on a team, leaderboards and badges could actually be demoralizing and counter-productive)

> Note: While ideas like go out for beers with the team once in a while is helpful, I'd say that's more of a social band-aid. I'd like to focus the conversation on the engineering process specifically.

[0] https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2021/01/22/gitlab-13-8-released/

[1] https://github.com/laravel/framework/discussions/categories/show-and-tell

[2] https://www.dalsat.me/download/publications/saner2017.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiluunw6fjuAhVgJzQIHWLQDQsQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1yAwqK5Vjml9jXFR7Bhxk0

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