Three things have risen sharply since the Great Recession of 2008-2009: inequality, dispair of those without a college degree, and the number of jobs that require a college degree to get hired but not needed to do the work. Degree inflation is a huge waste of money for companies. Competing for a small pool of college-educated workers forces businesses to pay more for talent. For certain jobs like a surgeon or quant, a degree is essential, but for many other jobs, both workers and companies can benefit from fewer degree requirements.

Obsessed with degrees

Since the pandemic, employers are resetting degree requirements in many roles, most notably for middle-skill positions - those requiring some post-secondary education or training but less than a degree. The change is also noticeable for higher-skill positions. Companies are finally refocusing on skills over degrees. They are also desperate to find skilled workers during the pandemic that they are willing to forgo degree requirements.

Skills over degrees

The shift toward workers without degrees during the pandemic will likely show if workers who have degrees can perform better than newly hired workers without degrees. Studies show little performance difference between those with and without degrees outside fields such as professional services and finance. Entrepreneurs and hiring managers are already aware that a college degree is often unnecessary, and that competing for talent will become harder.

Degree deflation

A rare pandemic silver lining: fewer employers are demanding college degrees for jobs you can do without one.

career

Career

education

Learning & Education

Employers Are Finally Rethinking Requiring Unnecessary College Degrees. Thank the Pandemic

To improve any skill, imitate, then innovate. The more we imitate others, the quicker we can discover our own unique style. But modern creators refuse to imitate others and insist on originality even when it comes at the expense of quality. They feel scared to imitate other people's styles and try to avoid those that can make them great.

The originality disease

It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.

Creators are intentional in what they consume. Consuming art is a product work for them. For example, film directors watch movies to see how they're made, then borrow and build upon them in their own work. When George Lucas created Star Wars, he consulted the teachings of Joseph Campbell, who spent his career studying mythology and religion. Lucas’ artistic originality was enhanced by an imitative respect for Campbell’s work.

Creators consume art differently than consumers

<ul><li>Misunderstanding inspiration. Many people think inspiration comes from nowhere and think that studying other people's work may contaminate their originality.</li><li>Fetishising originality. People do study those before them, but only so they can do something different.</li><li>Pure conjecture: self-obsession. Instead of looking outward, people look inwards for inspiration. Paintings are increasingly abstract to reflect the subjective experience of the artists.</li></ul>

The cause of originality disease

Innovation without imitation is a fool's strategy. Einstein studied classical physicists for decades which enabled him to invent general relativity. Most original musicians spent hours practising scales to pick up on the creative powers of musicians they admire. Hunter S. Thompson once hand-wrote every word of the Great Gatsby to recreate what it feels to write a great novel. Rober Louis Stevenson copied paragraphs he enjoyed and then rewrote them from memory.

Learning from historical examples

Most imitation happened through apprenticeships.Leonardo da Vinci had almost no formal schooling but got his first apprenticeship at 14. He then studied math, anatomy, drawing techniques and geometry. One of his master's most famous sculptures was of David. Later, da Vinci's painted David resembled his masters. However, today we replace apprenticeships with efficiency and train at professional art schools. As apprenticeships decline, so does imitative learning.

Imitation

Any skill that is difficult to put the core knowledge into works is a skill that should be developed through imitative learning. These skills have many subtleties that are best learned in conversation with a master or through watching them—for example, cooking. Following a recipe can help you make a meal, but it won't turn you into Gordon Ramsay. Creative work is similar. Reading a lot of good writing is possibly the best way to become a good writer.

Skills best trained through imitation

<ul><li>Near imitation is when you imitate people who do similar work to you. It's what musicians do when they practice scales.</li><li>Far imitation is when you transfer ideas from one domain to another. Sigmund Freud used many of the ideas of Nietzche to create Interpretation of Dreams, which is known as the most original work of psychology.</li></ul> The best innovators combine near imitations with far ones.

Two kinds of imitation

The surest sign of an amateur is someone who values originality as their ultimate goal. Instead, they should value quality. They won't become original by getting the Originality Disease because pursuing originality too directly can lead to the opposite. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "No man who cares about originality will ever be original. It's the man who's only thinking about doing a good job or telling the truth who becomes really original—and doesn't notice it."

How to pursue originality

creativity

Creativity

Imitate, then Innovate - David Perell

It totally depends on what worth means for you.If you are thinking that just completing a Computer Science or Data Science course on Coursera and displaying a completion certificate on your resume or on LinkedIn will land you a Job then definitely, it's not worth it. But, at the same time, these certifications can put your resume forward to many Recruiters looking for Data scientists.

It Depends

A course completion certificate doesn't make you an expert, but it does show that you have completed a course on a particular subject, which means you know about it, and are a constant learner, an essential attribute that hiring managers look out for, while hiring Programmers, Engineers, Developers, and Data Scientists.Almost 90% of people who start an online course never complete them.

A constant learner

You need to remember that a course completion certification is very different from Oracle's Java certification or AWS certification from Amazon, which really tests your skill and then awards your certificate.The certifications listed above are definitely more valuable than a standard course completion certificate from Udemy, Coursera, edX, Educative, or Udacity.Coursera or Udacity certificates offered by Google, Microsoft, or Stamford University are much more valuable than a random certificate as these firms enjoy a lot of trust in the public's eye.

Different Certifications

It's Ok to not put a certification or a course completion proof on your Resume, but If you have evidence, you must be ready to prove that you have acquired them.For eg: if you say that you completed The Google Cloud Certification on Coursera but don't know what a compute engine, BigQueury or BigTable is, then you are not sincere and you come of as someone who is just concerned about points on a paper instead of learning skill acquisition

Justify those certificates

How Useful are Certificates from Coursera, edX, and Udemy?

Jocko Willink is a podcaster, author, and retired United States Navy SEAL. He hosts the<a href="http://jockopodcast.com/"> </a>Jocko Podcast. 
Common life lessons:
<ul>
<li>Look at the positive in every situation</li>
<li>Take small steps to reach a bigger goal</li>
<li>Take full responsibility for your life</li>
</ul>

Universal life lessons

It’s good to consume podcasts or videos that educate you, but don’t spend all your time-consuming information. Make time to produce your own podcast, videos, etc.You have to make sure it’s not a deficit where all you’re doing is consuming and you’re not producing anythingYou don’t have to stay the same person your entire life: As a kid, Jocko was super rebellious and didn’t care much for school or learning. Now, he’s incredibly disciplined and spends a lot of his time reading and writing books.

Spend more time producing than consuming

Do things that will benefit and improve your life in the long run. The short-term gratification is not a long-term success and it’s not long-term happiness.Take ownership of your life: But how do you take ownership when something horrible happens to someone else, like your child getting cancer? Take ownership of how you respond to it.Just because you’ve adapted and moved on with your life, it doesn’t mean their loss didn’t matter or you forgot about them. It means you accepted the reality that they are no longer alive and they can continue to live in your memory

Don’t chase short-term highs. 

Don’t use age as an exercise not to learn or try something new: Jocko started a podcast in his 40s, he got into archery recently.As a leadership consultant, Jocko doesn’t just walk into a new business and tell them how they can run it better. He spends time asking questions and learning about their different problems. Only then does he give advice.If you want to become a better leader, be more humble. If you’re humble, you’ll listen to other people and take responsibility for things that went wrong instead of blaming other people.

Whenever trying something new, be humble and ready to learn

If I recognize that someone has no humility and is not going to listen, I’ll probably fire them pretty quickly

Every time when I talk to Jocko Willink, an American Retired Naval Office, Author, and Podcaster, I learn a million lessons from him. This time is no different! This time we talked about not having any excuses when you're trying to archive any goal, and also, his new book (extended version of the previous book) Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual Mk1-MOD1. No excuse and start listening now! Enjoy!  I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts Stitcher iHeart Radio Spotify   Follow me on Social Media: YouTube Twitter Facebook Linkedin

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

podcasts

Podcasts

James Altucher interviews the world’s leading peak performers in every area of life. But instead of giving you the typical success story, James digs deeper to find the “Choose Yourself” story—these are the moments we relate to… when someone rises up from personal struggle to reinvent themselves. The James Altucher Show brings you into the lives of peak-performers: billionaires, best-selling authors, rappers, astronauts, athletes, comedians, actors, and the world champions in every field, all who forged their own paths, found financial freedom and harnessed the power to create more meaningful and fulfilling lives.

The James Altucher Show

648 - NO EXCUSES with Jocko Willink

Telling yourself that you cannot concentrate, actually, weakens your concentration. It makes you believe that you cannot concentrate, and you don’t even try to improve this ability.

1. Don’t keep saying that you cannot concentrate.

Keep telling yourself that you can make your focus better, especially when doing something that requires focus. Don’t listen to the doubts that your mind brings up.

2. Program your mind to believe that you can improve your concen

In order to improve your concentration you need to train it, like any other skill. If you persevere, and are earnest enough, you will be able to focus your mind on anything you want.

3. Accept the fact that this ability requires training, like any

If there is something that is distracting your attention, such as emotional problems or unresolved business problems, tell your mind that all these problems can wait for a little while, and that you will attend to them after you finish what you are doing.If this does not help you, then write down on a piece of paper what problems you have to think about or solve. This will, to some extent, temporarily remove the problems and the distractions they are causing from your mind.

4. Make a deal with your mind.

Jumping from one thing to another will only teach your mind to be inattentive and lose attention quickly. This kind of mental restlessness can be tiring in the long run.

5. Do one thing at a time.

When you need to carry out a task that requires sustained focus, sit down, and try to relax your body for a few moments.

6. Relax your body.

If you feel stress and tension while studying, working, or doing anything that requires attention, stop for a few moments, and take a few deep breaths. This will relax your body and mind.

7. Take a few deep breaths.

Drinking some water helps your mind to be less tense and restless.

8. Drink water.

When you focus your attention on anything, be alert, and when you find yourself thinking on something else, try to stay patient, and bring your mind back to the subject again and again.

9. Be attentive and bring your mind back to what you are doing.

Often, when you remember, try to fix your attention on whatever you happen to be doing at the moment. While eating, focus on the food your eating. When exercising, focus on the movements of your body. When talking, focus on the conversation, and when working, focus on your work.“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus, a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.”

10. Focus on what you are doing.

“The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge.”– Swami Vivekananda

Successful people focus their mind on their goals, until they accomplish them. Here are simple tips to help you improve your focus and concentration skills.

productivity

Productivity

10 Effective Tips for Improving Your Concentration Skills

...are very imperative, as it is impossible to have them, to have exposure to the architectural style of the whole world at once, they can rely on movies and documentaries for that.

Movies for architects

...documentaries and movies for architects:

Here we are

Though this movie is about a visionary architect who leaves his wife to accept an architecture project in New York, things don’t go as he planned them. In this movie, the architect struggles to fit into professional norms without losing integrity and individualism.

The Fountainhead (1943) – Movie

This movie’s set in the 1970s, which is about final year architecture students of School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, a leading architecture institute in India. This movie shows struggles of Annie, who is repeating his fifth year for the fourth time in the institutes. He spends hours of his time daydreaming about social upliftment. The movie was part of the autobiography of Arundhati Roy (Indian Author) recounting her own experiences as an architecture student.

In which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) – Movie

If you want to see smouldering 1960s architecture, style, and attitude, watches this series. You will get a glimpse of how the architecture used to be and how it has transformed since then.

Mad Men (2007-2015) – Series

This movie is about a doctor basically who moves into a skyscraper, but that is not the point. In this movie, you will see Brutalist buildings, and approach of brutalism to the architecture.

High rise (2015) – Movie

This movie is about an architect, who wants to create something for himself without considering the client. The main character is hired by a couple to design a house but he ends up deviating from it. This is a portrayal of architects from the perspective of the people who hire them.

The architect (2016) – Movie

...Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio If you ever wonder, how architecture and architects affect society, no other thing can give you a better perspective than Citizen Architect. It includes interviews Samuel Mockbee, founder of Rural Studio. This movie reveals how architecture students cross the threshold of poverty, race, education and good citizenship to make the world a better place for everyone.

Citizen Architect: 

Norman Foster is considered as the world’s most sought architect and has produced the finest post-modern buildings to date. This documentary will give you his an insight towards the improvement of space and then that leading to improvement in the quality of life through just design.

How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?

How the interaction of a building with the surrounding environment is important and it’s importance towards the architectural act. If you want some understanding about this relationship, you must watch this documentary.

Philip Johnson: Diary of an Eccentric Architect

If you want to see ultimate fantasy houses of one of the smallest continent of the world, this is your thing. The host of the show visits the most luxurious homes, which are extraordinary. Greek-inspired beach homes, extravagant loft designs, 6m wide screen windows for maximum visibility, you name it. You will not be disappointed with the views while watching the show. You will step into a dream, every time you watch this show.

Unreal Estate

Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed, tallest bridge in the world, with a structural height of 343 meters. It is a part of Franco-British partnership, built in southern France. This documentary covers all the aspects of this bridge from materials used to its a structural concept. As this has been ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time, designed by the English Norman Foster architect and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux.

The Bridge in the Sky: Millau Viaduct

This show actually covers the thought process of engineers, masons and labours; while building medieval castles. According to the need of the hour, what was required, and how it was done, it’s all here from Defence construction to structural engineering. So, dive into history with this visual treat.

Castle Builders

This documentary is about one of the most legendary architects Louis Kahn. His son and director Nathaniel Kahn try to understand his father’s work and his relations with art after his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, and was bankrupt, found dead in the bathroom of a New York station. The film shows both architect’s works as well as his personal life.

My Architect (2003) – Documentary

If you want to know about the life and career of one of the greatest architectural photographer Julius Shulman, you must watch this documentary. Experts believe he was responsible for bringing architectural modernist movement to light. Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Frank Gehry work of such legendary architects was promoted by Shulman’s work and that helped in shaping their promising careers.

Visual Acoustics (2008) – Documentary

This documentary explores the different prospects of architectural education through the eyes of the students. You will see a few young architecture students being followed to examine the different aspects of teaching in architecture. Interactions with these students and their reactions help in illustrating all the challenges, faced by aspiring architect in today’s world.

Archiculture (2011) – Documentary

Do you wonder sometimes “If buildings could talk, what would they say about us?”. If yes, you must watch this documentary as it captures six iconic and very different building talking for themselves plus it is entirely in 3D.

Cathedrals of Culture (2014) – Documentary

This was actually tribute to one of the world’s prominent architect Charles Correa, using live footage, extended interview with the architect itself, his diagrams and animation. Moreover, it deals with his work, ideas and views of this pronounced architect.

Volume Zero: Documentary on Charles Correa (2015) – Documentary

...or where of architecture heading towards in, here are few Architecture movies you can watch.1. Minority report (2002): This movie shows Washington DC on a whole new level with the amalgamation of all the technology.2. Cloud Atlas (2012): Even this is about the future city of Neo Seoul, though the storyline revolves around six individuals of various generations, who are trying to explore the impacts human actions.3. Hunger games: catching fire (2013): now this movie is about a fictional nation of Panem, it’s Capitol. We have to focus on its Capitol and its modernist approach.

If you want a glimpse of how the future can be

movies

Movies & Shows

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Architecture Blog - Architecturechat

There is 2 types of elements when it comes to chemical reaction in our nature : Noble Gases , Reactive elements ( all of the other elements).<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Noble Gases :</li></ul>The most stable elements which don't undergo any chemical reaction (at normal condition) with other elements or with each other.Because their outermost energy level is completely filled with electrons.Their molecules are mono-atomic such as (He,Ne,Ar,Kr,Xe,Rn)<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Reactive Elements :</li></ul>All other elements are reactive to some extent, they undergo chemical reactions to complete their outermost shell by accepting , losing , sharing electrons.

Must Known To Understand

The Valence electrons play an important role in the formation of the bonds. So the scientist G.N.Lewis introduced a simple method to represent the valence electrons by using dotsYou can open the picture to understand more about the steps.Resource: El moasser book

Lewis Electron-dot Symbols

Chemical Bonds Physical Bonds1. Ionic Bonds 1. Hydrogen Bond2. Coordinate bond 2. Metallic bond3. Covalent Bond:-<ul><li>pure covalent bond</li><li>Non-polar covalent bond</li><li>Polar covalent bond</li></ul>As you can see there are 7 bonds which I will explain in details in the next post . Hope you enjoyed my explanation and found it easy to understand.P.S "don't worry I am working on it and it will be posted later this month ;) "

Types Of Bonds

Some people find Chemistry so complicated and confusing . So I , as a passionate high school student about Chemistry , try at my best to clarify some basics with simple explanation.

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The Chemical Reaction Concept

The fastest human in the world, according to the Ancient Greek legend, was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atalanta">the heroine Atalanta</a>. Although she was a famous huntress who joined Jason and the Argonauts in the search for the golden fleece, she was renowned for her speed. No one could defeat her in a fair footrace. She was also the inspiration for the first of many similar paradoxes put forth by the ancient philosopher Zeno of Elea about how motion, logically, should be impossible.

Background 

To go from her starting point to her destination, Atalanta must first travel half of the total distance. To travel the remaining distance, she must first travel half of what’s left over. No matter how small a distance is still left, she must travel half of it, and then half of what’s still remaining, and so on, ad infinitum. With an infinite number of steps required to get there, clearly she can never complete the journey. And hence, Zeno states, motion is impossible: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes">Zeno’s paradox</a>. Here’s the unintuitive resolution.

So, What Is Zeno’s Paradox?

The oldest “solution” to the paradox was done from a purely mathematical perspective. The claim admits that, sure, there might be an infinite number of jumps that you’d need to take, but each new jump gets smaller and smaller than the previous one. Therefore, as long as you could demonstrate that the total sum of every jump you need to take adds up to a finite value, it doesn’t matter how many chunks you divide it into. Simple, straightforward, and compelling, right?

The Initial Solution To The Paradox?

This reasoning is only good enough to show that the total distance you must travel converges to a finite value. It doesn’t tell you anything about how long it takes to reach your destination.There's no guarantee that each of the infinite number of jumps you need to take- even to cover a finite distance-occurs in a finite amount of time. If each jump took the same amount of time, for example, regardless of the distance traveled, it would take an infinite amount of time to cover whatever tiny fraction-of-the-journey remains. This way, it is still impossible for Atalanta to reach her destination

Why Is The Initial Solution Flawed?

Many thinkers, both ancient and contemporary, tried to resolve this paradox by invoking the idea of time. Specifically, as asserted by Archimedes, it must take less time to complete a smaller distance jump than it does to complete a larger distance jump, and therefore if you travel a finite distance, it must take you only a finite amount of time. And therefore, if that’s true, Atalanta can finally reach her destination and complete her journey.

Including The Concept Of Time

It’s eminently possible that the time it takes to finish each step will still go down: half the original time, a third of the original time, etc, but that the total journey will take an infinite amount of time. You can check this for yourself by trying to find what the series [½ + ⅓ + ¼ + ⅕ ++ …] sums to. As it turns out, the limit does not exist: this is a diverging series.Pure mathematics alone cannot provide a satisfactory solution to the paradox, as it isn’t simply about dividing a finite thing up into an infinite number of parts, but rather about the inherently physical concept of a rate

Only, This Is Flawed Too

How fast does something move? That’s a speed. Add in which direction it’s moving in, and that becomes velocity. And what’s the quantitative definition of velocity, as it relates to distance and time? It’s the overall change in distance divided by the overall change in time.

What Is Velocity?

Rate is the amount that one quantity (distance) changes as another quantity (time) changes as well.You can have a constant velocity (without acceleration) or a changing velocity (with acceleration). You can have an instantaneous velocity (your velocity at one specific moment in time) or an average velocity (your velocity over a certain part or whole of a journey).But if something is in constant motion, the relationship between distance, velocity, and time becomes very simple: distance = velocity * time.

What Then Is Rate?

This is the resolution of the classical “Zeno’s paradox” as commonly stated:The reason objects can move from one location to another (i.e., travel a finite distance) in a finite amount of time is not because their velocities are not only always finite, but because they do not change in time unless acted upon by an outside force. If you take a person like Atalanta moving at a constant speed, she will cover any distance in an amount of time put forth by the equation that relates distance to velocity.

How Does Rate Provide A Solution

The takeaway is this: Motion from one place to another is possible, and because of the explicit physical relationship between distance, velocity and time, we can learn exactly how motion occurs in a quantitative sense. Yes, in order to cover the full distance from one area to another, you have to first cover half that distance, then half the remaining distance, then half, etc.But the time it takes to do so also halves, so motion over a finite distance always takes a finite amount of time for any object in motion. This is still an interesting exercise for mathematicians and philosophers.

Final Thoughts 

I found this paradox is interesting, mainly because it has such a simple solution for what seems like an unsolvable problem. 

Travel half the distance to your destination, and there's always another half to go. Despite Zeno's Paradox, you always arrive right on time.

How Zeno's Paradox was resolved: by physics, not math alone

There are MANY different ways to improve your essays or papers, but these are some of the top ways proven to work:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Grammarly (Not sponsored) Grammarly is a simple app that helps with grammar... obviously</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Have good words that prove its legitimate, such as "Study" or the name of a person and a degree or job they have</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Sort info that relates close together while still spread out</li><li class="ql-align-justify">ALWAYS have a counterclaim and counterclaim that, this makes sure you prove you can shoot down the other side, AND it just makes you look less cocky</li></ul>

How to Write a Better Essay or Paper

We all know presentations can be VERY difficult and nerve racking, but they don't have to be.<ul><li>Making your presentations bulleted can make presentations WAY easier (Especially if you keep them short)</li><li>Keeping bulleted notes short is one step but why? because that way you can take only a short glimpse of the note and go straight back to eye contact w/ your audience</li><li>PRACTICE!!! If you don't practice you are almost guaranteed to stutter</li><li>Act confident even if you aren't, by doing this people will respect you more, & this also makes sure people are more likely to believe you</li></ul>

How To Do Better Presentations W/ More Confidence

Notes are SO HARD! But that's only if you make them hard.<ul><li>Use bulleted notes, this way you can have things organized and not in random sentences</li><li>A great format of bulleted notes is Cornell notes this uses 3 different types of bullets to keep notes simple but organized</li><li>Cut out words that aren't important. If your teacher talks fast this is a great fix. words like "And" & "Also" can be replaced by a ",". Simple as that. Get rid of things you don't need, BUT make sure you can still understand it</li></ul>

Make Taking Notes WAY Easier

School can be difficult for ALOT of people, but these tips make sure it is quick and easy

School Can Be Hard But.....

One of the most impressive examples we’ve seen so far is Spotify, which has kept an agile mindset despite having scaled to over 30 teams across 3 cities. Spotify is a fascinating company that is transforming the music industry.

Dealing with multiple teams in a product development organization is always a challenge

A Squad is similar to a Scrum team, and is designed to feel like a mini-startup. They sit together, and they have all the skills and tools needed to design, develop, test, and release to production. They are a self-organizing team and decide their own way of working – some use Scrum sprints, some use Kanban, some use a mix of these approaches.

Squads

Building and improving the Android client, creating the Spotify radio experience, scaling the backend systems, or providing payment solutions.

Each squad has a long-term mission

To promote learning and innovation, each squad is encouraged to spend roughly 10% of their time on “hack days”. During hack days people do whatever they want, typically trying out new ideas and sharing with their buddies.

Hack days

Squads are encouraged to apply Lean Startup principles such as MVP (minimum viable product) and validated learning. MVP means releasing early and often, and validated learning means using metrics and A/B testing to find out what really works and what doesn’t. This is summarized in the slogan “Think it, build it, ship it, tweak it”.

Squads are encouraged to apply Lean Startup principles

The product owner is responsible for prioritizing the work to be done by the team, but is not involved with how they do their work. The product owners of different squads collaborate with each other to maintain a high-level roadmap document that shows where Spotify as a whole is heading, and each product owner is responsible for maintaining a matching product backlog for their squad.

A squad doesn’t have a formally appointed squad leader, but it does have a product owner

Ideally each squad is fully autonomous with direct contact with their stakeholders, and no blocking dependencies to other squads.

Each squad is a mini-startup

Product owner - The squad has a dedicated product owner that prioritizes the workAgile coach - The squad has an agile coach that helps them identify impediments and coaches them to continuously improve their processInfluencing work - Each squad member can influence his/her work, be an active part in planning and choose which tasks to work on.

Quarterly survey with each squad to measure improvements I

Easy to release - The squad can (and does!) get stuff live with minimal hassle and sync. A process that fits the team - The squad feels ownership of their process and continuously improves it. Mission - The squad has a mission that everyone knows and cares about, and stories on the backlog are related to the mission. Organizational support - The squad knows where to turn to for problem-solving support, technical issues as well as “soft” issues.

Quarterly survey with each squad to measure improvements II

A tribe is a collection of squads that work in related areas – such as the music player, or backend infrastructure.The tribe can be seen as the “incubator” for the squad mini-startups. , and have a fair degree of freedom and autonomy. Each tribe has a tribe lead who is responsible for providing the best possible habitat for the squads within that tribe. The squads in a tribe are all physically in the same office, normally right next to each other, and the lounge areas nearby promote collaboration between the squads.

Tribes

Most people cannot maintain a social relationship with more than 100 people or so (the number is actually larger for groups that are under intense survival pressure, which isn’t really the case at Spotify, believe it or not...).

Tribes are sized based on the concept of the “Dunbar number”

Dependencies are not necessarily bad - squads sometimes need to work together to build something truly awesome. Nevertheless, our goal is to have squads be as autonomous as possible, especially minimizing dependencies that are blocking or slowing a squad down

Squad dependencies

A synchronization meeting where one person from each team meets to discuss dependencies. We don’t usually do scrum of scrums at Spotify, mainly because most of the squads are fairly independent and don’t need such a coordination meeting.

Scrum of scrums

Their job is not to make releases for the squads - their job is to give the squads the support they need to release code themselves; support in the form of infrastructure, scripts, and routines. They are, in a sense, “building the road to production”.

At Spotify there is a separate operations team

There is a downside to everything, and the potential downside to full autonomy is a loss of economies of scale. The tester in squad A may be wrestling with a problem that the tester in squad B solved last week. If all testers could get together, across squads and tribes, they could share knowledge and create tools for the benefit of all squads.The chapter is about your small family of people having similar skills and working within the same general competency area, within the same tribe

Chapters

A Guild is a more organic and wide-reaching “community of interest”, a group of people that want to share knowledge, tools, code, and practices. Chapters are always local to a Tribe, while a guild usually cuts across the whole organization. Some examples are the web technology guild, the tester guild, the agile coach guild, etc.

Guilds

Scaling Agile atqparameters = {'client_id': settings.UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY, 'query': a.title}
response = requests.get(settings.UNSPLASH_API_URL + '/search/photos', params=parameters)
 Spotify

Find 100+ Facts about Education - Curated by others from trusted sources like Books, Podcasts & Articles - Genuine Insights from like-minded Users like You!