If you’ve been following Swimm Upstream, Season 1 highlighted knowledge sharing within development teams with a focus on growth and onboarding.
I am delighted to share that Season 2 of Swimm Upstream is now live and you can listen to all 6 episodes here.
Our goal for Season 2 was to share experiences about leading and navigating change within engineering organizations. The pandemic taught us many things, but most definitely that “change is the only constant in life.” As engineering leaders, we’ve most definitely, at this point, become a lot more accustomed to embracing change and finding new and innovative ways of approaching challenges within technological organizations.
The second season of Swimm’s podcast – Swimm Upstream
On this season of Swimm Upstream, as we look at new and innovative ways of approaching challenges within technological organizations, we break down specific instances of change in software organizations when both technical and human aspects were involved. Each of our guests shares a story that talks about change, where they were in life, as well as where they were organizationally at the time this change was taking place.
Each podcast episode runs about 20 minutes – about navigating disruptive changes, motivating teams, and promoting your ideas successfully when changes are happening within an organization. There are many important lessons and takeaways for all of us.
Plus the music this season was brought to you by Swimm’s R&D team!
Swimm Upstream’s Season 2 lineup
For Season 2, I interviewed a terrific lineup of guests including Amir Shevat (Head of Product at Twitter’s Developer Platform), Jason Gauci (Director of Software Engineering at Argo AI), Jenna Quindica (Staff Software Engineer at Square), Brian Douglas (Director of Developer Advocacy at GitHub), and Basia Mucha (Director of Engineering at Compass).
Episode 1: Debugging is for human relationships, too, with Amir Shevat, Head of Product at Twitter’s Developer Platform
In episode 1 of Swimm Upstream, I speak with Amir Shevat about his experiences with the effectiveness of a general manager (GM) model, and just how important it is to listen when joining a new team.
Episode 2: Identifying user-champions with Jason Gauci, Part 1: Director of Software Engineering at Argo AI
In episode 2 of Swimm Upstream, I speak with Jason Gauci about his experiences leading a research lab at Meta and the challenges of disruptive technological changes. Hint: Sometimes, being on the vanguard is indistinguishable from failing.
Episode 3: Making calculated risks with Jason Gaucci Part 2: Director of Software Engineering at Argo AI
In episode 3 of Swimm Upstream, I continue my conversation with Jason Gauci in this special 2-part series. Jason breaks down the day after you’ve succeeded with your initial first champion. What comes next? How do you motivate your team? And how to successfully promote your ideas within an engineering organization.
Episode 4: Making organizational level changes to achieve product-market fit with Jenna Quindica, Staff Software Engineer at Square
In episode 4 of Swimm Upstream, I chat with Jenna Quindica about how changes and pivots are bound to happen, especially in the early days of a start-up. Jenna shares her career pivot to achieve product-market fit and what it takes to be an effective Staff SWE today.
Episode 5: Implementing and shipping design systems with Brian Douglas, Director of Developer Advocacy at GitHub
In episode 5 of Swimm Upstream, I talk with Brian Douglas about his experiences building Netlify’s first design system. Brian shares his perspective on knowing when a start-up can develop its own tool versus using one available on the market.
Episode 6: Extending end-to-end platforms as you scale With Basia Mucha, Director of Engineering at Compass
In episode 6 of Swimm Upstream, I talk with Basia Mucha about her experiences scaling a platform across different geographies, and the art of balancing new features while growing your team.
Swimm podcast – Season 3 of Swimm Upstream
There’s a lot more to come on Swimm Upstream. We’re in the throes of planning the 3rd season now. If you are interested in being a guest, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
And if you still have not experienced Continuous Documentation for yourself, try out Swimm and sign up for a free demo and sign up for a demo.
