• Paper: Fuck Nuance: Simpler models can be more broadly applicable than detailed special purpose ones.
  • Build a link blog: Kinda what I’m doing here with my links posts. Read something and then write about it. (Usually falls under summary + personal anecdotes for me!)
  • You’re missing your near misses: We don’t often create opportunities to run nearly failed situations through our standard incident response process because it’s never triggered and there’s a cost to incidents that can be quite high in terms of energy and time. But there is stuff to be learned here … Is there a way to do that more reasonably?
  • DSQL Vignette: Reads and Compute: Amazon DSQL and reads. Compute is scalable, uses lambda (postgres embedded container), and separate from storage. Neat stuff!
  • CORPORATE “DEI” IS AN IMPERFECT VEHICLE FOR DEEPLY MEANINGFUL IDEALS: Seeing a bit of a backlash against the way diversity and inclusion has been implemented within companies recently. I agree that there are important ideas here separate than DEI itself as manifested, and we shouldn’t lose sight of those. Have to think a bit about how well we’ve done in the last few years relative to where hearts and minds.
  • Not Just Scale: Running a program across more than 1 machine has benefits beyond just the ability to handle more traffic. Zero downtime, and patching come to mind. It does make a system more complex though.
  • A Collection of Best Practices for Production Services: Great list of practices for a product development and sre team to keep in mind.

Hiten Shah on urgency

Most people treat urgency like a switch, they turn it on when there’s a crisis and off when things feel under control. They’re wrong. The best operators, builders, and decision-makers don’t wait for urgency to find them. They manufacture it. They know that speed compounds. That momentum is fragile. That hesitation kills more opportunities than failure ever will.

Urgency isn’t about rushing. It’s about eliminating friction. Most people waste time without realizing it. They overthink. They wait for more information. They hesitate because they don’t trust their instincts. But the best operate with a bias for action. They prioritize motion over perfection. They figure things out while moving forward instead of standing still.

The first step to developing urgency is awareness. Track where your time actually goes. Not where you think it goes. Where it actually goes. Most people are shocked by how much of their day is spent on things that don’t move the needle. The second step is making faster decisions. Not reckless ones. Just faster ones. Most choices are reversible, yet people treat them like they’re life-or-death. The best know that action creates information. That most of the time, doing is the fastest way to learn. The third step is engineering constraints. Urgency thrives under pressure. If no external pressure exists, create it. Shorten your deadlines. Remove safety nets. Set stakes that make delay unacceptable.