Say No

Brief presentation on the importance of saying no at 28 October 2017 at SFHMMY 10 (ECESCON) at Xanthi, Greece.

Transcript

1. no
2. no | nəʊ | determiner
 used to indicate that something is quite the opposite of what is being specified exclamation
 expressing disagreement or contradiction
 
 adverb
 [with comparative] not at all; to no extent noun (plural noes)
 a negative answer or decision, especially in voting
3. We are afraid of saying no.
4. We do not like getting a “no”, so we avoid saying it.
5. I believe this is wrong.
6. It’s getting philosophical.
7. Let’s NOT derail.
8. Paris Kasidiaris Co-Founder and CEO at SourceLair @pariskasid
9. SourceLair • Online IDE for Python, JavaScript, C, C++, Java, and more • Started as a fun project in university • Used by tons of web developers and students worldwide
10. Let’s talk engineering.
11. engineer | ɛndʒɪˈnɪə | • a person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or structures
 • a person who controls an engine, especially on an aircraft or ship
 • a skilful contriver or originator of something
12. Engineers provide technical solutions to problems.
13. To provide great solutions, we have to set priorities.
14. The voice of our priorities are the “No” we say.
15. As an engineer, it’s tempting to say Yes to lots of things.
16. My worst of these “Yes” • Saying Yes to creating feature-packed products
 • Saying Yes to big teams
 • Saying Yes to working long hours
17. Feature-packed products • They solve many products mediocrely
 • They demand more support and maintenance
 • They accumulate technical debt
18. Big teams • They slow the engineering process down
 • Communication gets complex
 • Administration gets more time-consuming
19. Long hours • They create the illusion of productivity
 • They impact stamina, after some time
 • They produce unsustainable work habits
20. We have to say “No”, because resources are limited. Especially people, time and money.
21. SourceLair has said a few “No”
22. A few things SourceLair says no to • Spend a lot of time just to bootstrap a new project
 • Complex and time consuming configurations
 • Bloating your computer with software
23. Apple has said a few of my favorite “No”.
24. 1. No Adobe Flash Player on iOS
 2. No physical keyboard on the iPhone
 3. No CD drive on the MacBook Air
25. One more thing
26. No, means “no” to one thing Yes, means “no” to lots of things
27. Thank you.