For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
Episode 035: Behind the Scenes at npm with Laurie Voss
00:16 – Welcome to “Yes, SJWs Do Actually Code” …we mean, “Greater Than Code!”
01:22 – Superpower Origin Story
06:00 – “Real Programming”
08:45 – Being Gay in the Tech Industry; Micro Activism
16:17 – Setting Workplace Culture
21:20 – Working in Open Source While Working in a Company like npm
25:50 – Monetizing npm
32:55 – npm@5
42:00 – The 10x Engineer
44:19 – Technical Hiring
49:53 – Why Whiteboarding and Code Exercises Don’t Work
51:51 – Organizing Engineers
Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
Reflections:
Astrid: Not being concerned with how other people view you as a programmer.
Coraline: Remembering good hiring practices to influence others.
Sam: Making your interview process focus on having people talk to each other about software.
Rein: Becoming a Change Artist by Gerald Weinberg
Laurie: Organizing large groups of people to get stuff done.
This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep of DevReps, LLC. To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode.
To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at paypal.me/devreps. You will also get an invitation to our Slack community this way as well.
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Special Guest: Laurie Voss.