最近在整理旧日的备忘录时，偶然间翻到了多年前写给老板的一封邮件。随着每一个字句的流淌，思绪也随之穿梭回到往昔，当年那个意气风发，满怀热情，勇敢直言，无惧无畏的少年已然跃然于纸上。

Dear Xxx,

Few months ago, you posted 4 questions to me:

  1. Who is our customer?
  2. What’s the job the customers expect us to do?
  3. How we can do the job 10x better?
  4. How to define the success?

After months contemplation and exploration, I had my thoughts:

  1. Who is our customer?
  • From employee’s perspective, leadership is the customer
  • From engineer’s perspective, peoples who use our service are our customers
  1. What’s the job the customers expect us to do?
  • Customers expect us to resolve their problems with lower cost
  • Customers expect us to improve their value by using our services
  1. How we can do the job 10x better?

Initially, I considered hiring more top-tier engineers. However, facing the harsh realities of limited resources, I reframed the question: How can we excel 10x better with what we have? My approach:

  • Allocate 70% of resources to meet customer expectations.
  • Invest 20% in exploring new business avenues.
  • Dedicate 10% to pioneering innovative initiatives.

Recently, I learned about BHAG, I agree with the direction, but I have my thoughts about the execution, many ideas have been proposed, but I think all thoughts are from the engineer’s perspective, not leadership’s perspective, from my side, I can’t connect the ideas to customers value. I always believe that leadership is the lighthouse of engineers, I also believe engineers can create great products, but great company always created by great leadership.

I have heard many times like “we lack of x, we lack of y, so we need to build a new platform”, I agree we lack a lot of platforms, my point is we need to review what we already have, and how to maximize the value of existing things with less cost. Recently, when I was reviewing the code, I found domain layer has been polluted by some legacy networking related code which belongs to a seldom-used legacy system. This code, originally intended as a temporary fix, has become a lingering issue. So, my point is being careful with someone who digging a hole, it may involve the entire team in a difficult situation. Sometimes, do nothing is better than do a wrong thing.

As a senior engineer, my coding time is limited due to numerous meetings. This isn’t ideal. Senior engineers, especially those with exceptional capabilities, should focus more on producing high-quality code rather than attending or organizing meetings. Delegating non-technical tasks could free up time for system architecture improvements, reducing the need for constant overhauls.

  1. How to define the success?
  • Success, in its essence, is multifaceted. It’s not just about meeting goals or achieving targets, but about how our customers perceive and experience our services. True success is realized when customers not only recognize the quality of our services but also feel a tangible improvement in their daily interactions with our products.
  • It’s about creating lasting value and a positive impact. When customers advocate for our services, citing reliability, efficiency, and innovation, that’s when we know we’ve truly succeeded. Our success metric should be the extent to which we exceed customer expectations and contribute to their satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Additionally, success should also be measured internally. It’s about our team’s growth, the fostering of a culture of excellence and continuous improvement, and the ability to adapt and respond to challenges effectively. When our team’s capabilities and morale are high, and when innovation is not just a buzzword but a daily practice, that’s a clear indicator of success.