Some funny parts. Some thought-provoking parts. A little wandering. A little long. A bit abrupt ending. But, how do you end this?!



Some quotes I noted:

“Intellectual 'work' is misnamed; it is a pleasure, a dissipation, and is its own highest reward. The poorest paid architect, engineer, general, author, sculptor, painter, lecturer, advocate, legislator, actor, preacher, singer, is constructively in heaven when he is at work; and as for the magician with the fiddle-bow in his hand, who sits in the midst of a great orchestra with the ebbing and flowing tides of divine sound washing over him - why, certainly he is at work, if you wish to call it that, but [...], it's a sarcasm just the same. The law of work does seem utterly unfair - but there it is, and nothing can change it: the higher the pay in enjoyment the worker gets out of it, the higher shall be his pay in cash also.”

“There was a slight noise from the direction of the dim corner where the ladder was. It was the king descending. I could see that he was bearing something in one arm, and assisting himself with the other. He came forward into the light; upon his breast lay a slender girl of fifteen. She was but half conscious; she was dying of smallpox. Here was heroism at its last and loftiest possibility, its utmost summit; this was challenging death in the open field unarmed, with all the odds against the challenger, no reward set upon the contest, and no admiring world in silks and cloth of gold to gaze and applaud; and yet the king’s bearing was as serenely brave as it had always been in those cheaper contests where knight meets knight in equal fight and clothed in protecting steel. He was great now; sublimely great. The rude statues of his ancestors in his palace should have an addition—I would see to that; and it would not be a mailed king killing a giant or a dragon, like the rest, it would be a king in commoner’s garb bearing death in his arms that a peasant mother might look her last upon her child and be comforted.”

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Mary Poppins

Extreme, always-on growth doesn't have to be the answer to every problem. This is comforting, because the growth can be exhausting, and it's good to hear about an alternate strategy.



What I learned:

- End of Ch. 4 - Take notes
- Ch. 5 - Use focus sprints; turn off slack; 23 minutes required to re/gain focus
- Ch. 6 - Learn into personality; mad people aren't the customers you want anyway; personality stands out and is irreplaceable
- Ch. 7 - Retention is more important than acquisition; make your existing customers happy; give personal support
- Ch. 8 - Scalable products are those that require little management; one-time fees are preferrable
- Ch. 9 - Share all you know; Associate yourself with a subject; build real and perceived expertise
- Ch. 10 - Connect with users instead of collecting "live" metrics; follow up with buyers, and ask them for referrals and sharing
- Ch. 11 - Launch fast, then iterate; Before launch, you have learned nothing; In time, offer services before products
- Ch. 12 - Customers are special people; treat buyers; share and connect long term; keep up with professional relationships, don't work alone
- Ch. 13 - Help people, then do business; launch asap, then evolve; establish a clear purpose in your mind for wanting a company

Extreme, always-on growth doesn't have to be the answer to every problem

Company of One

Svelte Basics

Styling React Components

Electron Fundamentals Course

When will Microsoft Drop IE? In 2025. Enjoy the [countdown](https://death-to-ie11.com/).



They have done many things to diminish support for it previous to that, including dropping it from their major web properties, such as [Microsoft Teams and M365](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/microsoft-365-apps-say-farewell-to-internet-explorer-11-and/ba-p/1591666). But it won't fully go away until long after now.

The reason this is the case is complicated. IE11 is a part of the Windows operating system, unlike most browsers. Thus it’s tied to the OS lifecycle.  When the version of Windows a user is on stops receiving updates, the IE11 on that computer will stop receiving updates as well.

For operating systems, Microsoft has had [two support phases](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14085/fixed-lifecycle-policy): mainstream and extended support phases.  Mainstream phase includes all updates to the software.  Extended support includes only security updates.  The policy into the future, the one covering Windows 10, has changed that.

Microsoft has said that its [Windows software is switching to a service model](https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8568473/windows-10-last-version-of-windows): “Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner, with continuous value for our consumer and business customers

This means that Windows 10 has essentially just one phase, mainstream support, because it's covered under Microsoft’s [Modern Lifecycle Policy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/30881/modern-lifecycle-policy), where products are continuously updated and licensed.  It does have a stated [extended support end date in 2025](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search?alpha=Windows%2010) (And even some Long-term Servicing Channels for Windows 10 into 2029!).  But how this will be resolved considering it’s the “last version of Windows” isn’t clear.

What does seem clear, however, is that Microsoft is supporting IE11 because it has to. They'll continue supporting it even after they [stop supporting Legacy Edge](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/microsoft-365-apps-say-farewell-to-internet-explorer-11-and/ba-p/1591666).  

It’s not actively developing IE11 -- it only gets [security updates and technical support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17454/lifecycle-faq-internet-explorer). In fact, it’s considering IE merely a [“compatibility solution”](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-IT-Pro-Blog/The-perils-of-using-Internet-Explorer-as-your-default-browser/ba-p/331732), not a browser and definitely not modern. It is wrapped up in the OS lifecycle, and the company has made commitments.  But the support of the browser is sure to be minimal from Microsoft since the company is clearly encouraging users who can to get off of IE and go to Edge.

When you know more about a subject than your reader, there are pitfalls to writing usefully

When Will Microsoft Drop IE11?

The curse of knowledge may create obstacles to us writing something useful for our reader. We may assume that others know exactly what we know and that they still need to learn certain things. This might be mismatched with their real needs.



## Knowing where to start

In technical writing, we try to guide someone from the beginning to the end, with proficiency in some task as the end goal. 

Perhaps we don't start precisely at zero, assuming our reader knows nothing. But we start at some lower-level starting point. But where do we start? People start from different points of knowledge. And it's hard to hedge all our bets or give enough caveats.

Prefer restating a few things at the risk of being obvious. People like a review. It's good to create the context and foundation for the more essential points we're about to make.

## Knowing where to end

Ending can be difficult, but should be less so. After all, when we set out to write, the thing we're trying to accomplish should be well-understood by us. It's the reason we're writing.

Precisely point out what we will be able to do by the end if we follow the steps to conclusion. Point out what we will not be able to do because of limitations. We might also point to continuing or alternate paths that we don't pursue in the present writing. We could point to assistive resources for continued learning.

## Knowing the level of detail

Like knowing where to start, it can be difficult to know how much hand holding through each step someone needs. It might be hard to know how specific to get on each step and how much to skip between each step.

Make a judgement call between verbosity and terseness, focused on readability toward the end goal. Only favor adding detail when essential complexity seems to require it. Once we decide on a resolution, stick with it from beginning to end.

## Not leaving anything out

When there are lots of steps or related concepts, it can be easy to leave something out. Our reader will jump into the text and think, "Wow, where did that come from?" or "What does that mean? I've never heard of that before." Mentioning things out of order will have the same effect.

Re-read and look for logical jumps where we may need to fill in steps or facts that are foundational to next steps.

And so in this curse of knowledge article, did I start in the wrong place?  Did I stop before I got to the point of usefulness? Did I leave stuff out? Definitely.

Writing with the Curse of Knowledge

If we're not careful, the number of priorities will grow directly with the number of managers. Since a singular priority is the most useful kind of priority, this is a bad thing. 



## Growing managers, growing priorities

It might not be universal, I can't say. But it sure is observable and repeatable. If you hire more managers, you'll get more things to do -- more competing priorities. 

Perhaps this is related to the common pitfall of solving most organizational problems with hiring. Perhaps its just the easiest management strategy. Things seem to tend that way.

## Managers manage... something

Managers have to have something to manage, something to own. Else, why are they there? If it's just to look after people, they'll be a micromanager in no time and make their employees nervous and annoyed. So, they've got to have something to do. 

And managers, like many workers, are often evaluated based on their impact. If they find a big initiative to take on, it'll show... initiative.  But it's easy to confuse that busyness with helpful motion. 

And we all like new and shiney things. There's the ever-present promise of the future. It will be solved as soon as we build the next big thing.

## Managers need workers

So, new managers lead to new initiatives, and those things need a new team. These are connected. One predicts the other. Getting manager heavy, then, can quickly overburden the system.

So why were the managers hired in the first place? Probably because the company was trying to do too much. The problem is circular.

## Real priorities

We have to choose what's really important to us -- to the business. It has to be strategic. The best priority is one priority. We work on it until it is delivered. It is, after all, the thing that will be of greatest value. There aren't two of those. If we delivered on this priority, it'd be the best possible thing we could do.

This isn't easy. Making a decision to do one thing means precluding another. And envisioning that priority usefully is a challenge as well. It has to be more concrete than the "Be the best at X by the end of the year". 

Once the strategic priority is concrete enough to act under, the initiatives that spawn as children from managers and teams don't have the be different or separate. They can directly contribute to the one overall priority. Instead of doing one of everything, we can get everyone working on one thing. If there are a bunch of managers with teams that don't seem to be able to contribute meaningfully, that's another choice that having a clear priority helps make. And it will be painful to reverse this trend.

## Caveats

Of course, there are exceptions. What about the value of diversifying the bets we take in business? What about the teams that need to keep infrastructure working for all these iniatives that rely on it? What about span of control limitations for a manager? Yes, exceptions. But they should be seen that way. Or other solutions besides increasing the number of managers should be examined. It's too easy to have too many priorities and then too many managers and then too many initiatives, teams, and a system that can't keep up with everything it's committed to do.

A bit rambly because this touches tons of issues? Yes.

Hard problems? Yes.

Perhaps the first priority is to solve this problem:  Make a single, concrete priority and organize such that every manager and team works on it.

The number of priorities is directly proporational to the number of managers.

More Managers, More Priorities

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This was an experience report given to a Pluralsight audience, meant to increase understanding and appreciation of the Design System we made for ourselves by sharing a history of where it all started and how we came to the place we have. A similar talk meant for an external audience could be interesting, but would likely differ in content for sake of interest.

An experience report to an internal audience on how we made the Pluralsight Design System

How We Make the Design System

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A presentation for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, where we were to demonstrate how our design system for the web builds with accessibility as a goal and can help product teams support these needs from the outset.

Some tidbits on how we've approached building accessibility into the design system

Accessibility in the Pluralsight Design System

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Since the inception of our design system, React has been a core technology. Being in a polyglot tech organization however, React wasn't always a given. We never thought that the design system would be able to serve all teams equally. But we wondered if we might do more to support the non-React teams and products. This is a recounting of that journey.

Our explorations in supporting tech beyond React in our design system.

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