✍🏼 Welcome to the fourth installation of my Reading Roundup series! I’ve got a couple of blog posts simmering on curiosity and hiring process, but in the meantime here are some of the articles and events that have caught my eye recently!

1️⃣ Reimagining servant leadership (Koes Bong)

I really loved Koes’ perspective and advice around self-care as a manager! I especially like his introduction of The Palladium Rule: “Treat yourself the way you want to be treated.”_ I know that this is something I struggle with sometimes - I’m very good at helping my team prioritize rest and breaks and care, but less so at giving myself the same considerations. His whole article is just really great practical advice about the balance of caring for your team and caring for yourself.

2️⃣ Selecting a Test Data Management Strategy (Chris Harbert)

Continuing the fine testing tradition of “it depends”, Chris has put together a great rundown of strategies to consider for managing your test data. Most testing approaches have various pros and cons; the biggest challenge isn’t choosing the wrong approach, but in not choosing an approach in the first place. That’s how you get lack of clarity, bloated process, and tech debt. I especially like the Pros/Cons summary charts at the end of each section - a really nice way of making the information more grokkable!

3️⃣ The Sustainable Workload Loop (Matt Schellhas)

This was a really helpful article, especially as a newer manager! Matt approaches workload management by figuring out which category a task falls into: Decline, Delegate, Defer, and Do. Simple but effective! I think it would be interesting to track these over time to see what your categorization patterns are like and reflect on how your workload management is going (similar to Amy Nguyen’s approach to tracking how often she accepts or declines requests).

4️⃣ Digital Accessibility by Design (Webinar panel with Tolu Adegbite & Amanda Ruzin)

On November 18, Tolu and Amanda will be sharing their expertise in accessibility and design! Accessibility is an ongoing hot topic - someday as an industry I hope we’ll prioritize accessibility from the very beginning, but until then panels like this are a great way to learn! I think it’s super useful to learn about accessibility from a variety of role perspectives so you can build an more holistic understanding around accessibility.

5️⃣ Healthy Testing Habits (Kristin Jackvony)

This was my first introduction to Kristin’s writing! She has some great reminders around consistent quality and testing processes like load testing, API health, and monitoring. These habit overviews don’t dive too deep, but they have enough detail to provide good jumping off points for continued learning.