Elastic Leadership

Chapter 26. Write code, but not too much

by Patrick Kua

I have worked with many team leaders, and one of the most difficult activities is balancing time spent writing code with other leadership activities. In an extreme case, writing no code leads to a lack of specific context for any direction you might want push the team. Even with the most positive of intents, without grounding in a system’s current state, any decisions you make might cause more work than needed. In the other extreme case, writing too much code probably means other important leadership activities are being neglected and any broader technical issues remain unresolved.

Circumstances often dictate the time you have to code. Your leadership role means representation in many ...