TL Role, Inspirations, Catching Up With AI Trends

It was in 2020 when I first acknowledged a gap in the content I was creating. With a new job at stake, 'messing around' no longer seemed like the right choice. Delving deeper, I realized my impostor syndrome stemmed from a question: "Who am I to advise on various software engineering topics?" After all, I had only recently found my path, while others had propelled large tech companies forward years before me. This realization left me with a lingering fear of not providing value.

① Technical Leadership

My mindset shifted in the latter half of 2023 as I embraced the role of Technical Lead (TL) in my professional life. This position, which I had long aspired to for personal growth and as a challenge, shifted my focus to fostering the growth of others. A key principle I adopted was leading by example. Should I meticulously prepare my test plans before submitting code, so others might follow suit? Could I document my learnings more effectively to benefit the community?

Yet, the familiar fear resurfaced: What do I have to offer? For the first time, I turned to books for professional development insights.

I started with Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track, which provides varied perspectives on staff engineers' leadership styles and career paths. The book outlines behavior shifts like coding less to tackle broader problems and spending more time uniting people to achieve goals. The traits mentioned helped me identify parallels with colleagues I've worked with.

The book offered unique angles for staff engineers' success, focusing on technical leadership traits. It became a valuable reference, guiding my behavior as a TL.

I also find inspiration in real-life examples. Two traits that stood out from a director-level engineer were: 1) his commitment to writing unit tests for his code, and 2) his ability to cut through non-essential conversation and drive clarity.

  • The Humble Approach of a Senior Engineer: You might think that reaching a 'godfather' status in an organization means you can skip mundane tasks, right? But one senior engineer's behavior profoundly humbled me. He writes just two lines of code, yet accompanies them with twenty lines of unit tests. This act is a humble gesture, demonstrating that no matter how high you rise when it's your turn to work, you must do so thoroughly. His approach inspired me to reevaluate my working style. In my role, where few possess deep context in my domain and trust in my code is a given, I realize the onus is on me to ensure correctness. This means implementing a more structured, detailed test plan and thorough testing. Leading by example in this way is also a form of leadership.

  • The Clarity-Driven Senior Engineer: On several occasions, I've witnessed sharp senior engineers cut straight to the heart of a problem in group discussions. Their ability to do so felt almost magical. It's surprising how easily conversations can veer off course with just a few participants. At times, misleading dialogue in a group setting becomes dangerous, as it may lead to flawed execution. Having someone with the right context to cut through the noise is essential. A product manager often plays this role, but sometimes it's the senior engineers or a tech lead who steps in during technical discussions. Initially, I resisted engineers who interrupted conversations. Now, I understand that, often, stepping back and redirecting focus is vital for leading a group of intelligent minds effectively.

② Gathering Inspiration from Podcasts

Since late 2023, I've delved deeper into personal growth, focusing on communication, mentorship, and leadership skills. My primary source of inspiration has been podcasts, which I started listening to more regularly during my commute. They've been an excellent way for me to consume content at my own pace.

If you are not super into podcasts yet, I have a few long-term favorites and recent discoveries. They span across a spectrum of topics but with a focus on tech and science. The first two are super popular but allow me to give you a quick summary of their bios.

Huberman Lab: Dr. Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University, hosting the Huberman Lab podcast that explores neuroscience and offers science-based health tools and insights. I stumbled upon his talks of dopamine from exercising - which explained a lot of the runner’s high, or excitement from my snowboarding experience.

Lex Fridman Podcast: Lex Fridman is an AI researcher at MIT, hosts the Lex Fridman podcast, where he dives into topics like science, technology, history, philosophy, and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power, featuring conversations with leading figures in artificial intelligence and other fields. I admire his approach to hot and sensitive topics - and his ability to stay unbiased and calm in driving the conversations.

The next two are my recent discoveries. I found them on my 4-hour Tahoe trip. They carried me over the hours like a blast.

  • Hard Fork: a weekly podcast produced by The New York Times, the hosts analyze the latest trends and groundbreaking developments in the rapidly changing tech landscape, addressing topics from the metaverse to AI-generated art and the evolution of social media

  • Acquired: a podcast that tells the stories and strategies of great companies, offering deep, conversational audiobook-style episodes.

For fun, I also listen to The Joe Rogan Experience depending on if I know the guests, and The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast when I have the appetite for long and intense lectures.

③ Catching Up with the Artificial Intelligence Trend

In 2024, I took the plunge and subscribed to ChatGPT 4.0. This decision was driven by a need to research questions and utilize its image-generation capabilities for my YouTube channel. Despite not being an AI researcher or possessing a deep engineering understanding of large language models, the capabilities of this AI agent have left me impressed. Its ability to understand, interpret, research, and summarize information is nothing short of fascinating.

I don't dwell on the fear that AI might replace my role in software engineering. Instead, my focus is on how we can enhance our capabilities using these new tools. For instance, when writing, I let ChatGPT perform a final grammar check. When faced with complex questions, I start a dialogue with ChatGPT instead of blindly searching on Google. The interaction with a mature chat agent feels akin to conversing with a rational individual, where emotions are set aside, allowing for deeper and more focused exchanges.

As part of my effort to understand, rather than just follow, the AI trend, I revisited a book I had purchased some time ago: Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Published in 2017, this book arrived during a time when AI debate was just beginning to heat up. Even then, tech leaders were convening to discuss AI safety, and the concept of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) was being thoroughly explored.

The book opens with a gripping narrative that imaginatively outlines the rapid evolution of AGI and superintelligence and its potentially transformative impact on our civilization. It then delves into fundamental concepts of artificial intelligence, touching upon topics like human or AI consciousness, AI safety, and various philosophical issues.

Reading this book in 2024 feels almost surreal. It was published merely seven years ago, yet some of the scenarios it envisioned are now unfolding before our eyes, with large language models integrating into our daily lives. The book approaches AI and AGI from a scientific and open-minded perspective, suggesting that the breakthrough of AGI is inevitable. When it surpasses human intelligence, questions arise: How will we coexist? What does the future hold?

These scenarios are not only fascinating to ponder but also critical for anyone curious about the intersection of technology and human life. If you share this curiosity, I highly recommend this book.