Story: Leaving LinkedIn - Choosing Engineering Excellence Over Expediency

Story: Leaving LinkedIn - Choosing Engineering Excellence Over Expediency

Author: Adam Gordon Bell - Software Developer March 4, 2024 Duration: 47:35

What if your dedication to doing things right clashed with your company's fast pace? Chris Krycho faced this very question at LinkedIn.

His journey was marked by challenges: from the nuances of remote work to the struggle of influencing company culture, and a critical incident that put his principles to the test against the company's push for speed.

Chris's story highlights the tension between the need for innovation and the importance of project health. This all led Chris to a pivotal decision: to stay and compromise his beliefs or to leave in pursuit of work that aligned with his principles.

He chose the latter. Join us as we dive into Chris's compelling story, exploring the challenges of advocating for principled engineering in a world that often prioritizes quick wins over long-term value.

 


In CoRecursive: Coding Stories, host Adam Gordon Bell sits down with software developers to explore the human narratives woven into the technology we build. This isn't a technical interview focused on syntax or best practices, but a deeper dive into the pivotal moments, creative struggles, and personal insights that shape how code comes to life. Each conversation reveals the context behind decisions, the stories of failure and breakthrough, and the often-overlooked human elements that define our craft. As a software developer himself, Adam guides these discussions with genuine curiosity, pulling out anecdotes and reflections you won't hear anywhere else. The podcast lives in the intersection of News, Education, and How-To, but through the lens of lived experience. You'll hear about the origins of influential projects, the rationale behind unconventional solutions, and the personal journeys that lead developers to their philosophies. Listening feels like pulling up a chair with thoughtful peers, offering a richer understanding of the profession that goes far beyond the screen. This is where the abstract becomes concrete, through the stories and people behind the code.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

CoRecursive: Coding Stories
Podcast Episodes
The Science of Learning to Code [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:45
Learning to code can feel impossible. Like facing a sheer rock wall with no ropes or harnesses. But what if there was a path up the mountain? A trail blazed smooth by master coders who went before? In this episode, we'll…
Story: A Dark Room [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:42
Have you ever been frustrated with your job? Maybe not burnt out, but getting close to there? You used to love what you did, and it felt so creative and empowering, but then it starts to feel a bit more cookie cutter. Ha…
Story: Quitting (And Then Rejoining) Stack Overflow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:28
Today, we meet Ben Dumke-von der Ehe, one of the early developers on the Stack Overflow team. He was on the front lines as the platform transformed how programmers worked. And he embodies the spirit of Stack Overflow: It…
Story: From Project Management to Data Compression Innovator [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:23
How do you accomplish something massive over time? I've had the chance to meet with a number of exceptional software developers and it's something I always wonder about. Today, I might have an answer with the incredible…
Story: JSON vs XML [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:56
Today's guest is Douglas Crockford. He's sharing the story of JSON, his discovery of JavaScript's good parts, and his approach to finding a simple way to build software. Also, his battles against XML, against complexity,…
Story: Sun's Mobile Blunders [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:45
Shai Almog worked at Sun on Mobile JVMs just as phones started to turn from phones into something else. Sun had deep expertise in mobile development, and amazing engineering driven culture and relationships with manufact…
Story: Shipping Graphing Calculator [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:47
I've been on many projects that get canceled. We're building cool stuff. We're going above and beyond, and we're excited. But the project encounters reality, shifting priorities, or budgeting constraints, and the work ne…
Story: The Unfulfilled Engineer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:04
Nothing good comes from being insecure about your worth, especially at your job. That's what today's episode is about. That's what today's guest is here to discuss. It's a slow burn, but if you listen to the end, I think…
Story: DOOMed to Fail [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:03
Today Rebecca Burger Becky Heineman shares the tale of porting Doom to the 3DO console under extreme conditions. There is an engine to tweak, deadlines to hit, hardware acceleration to get working, and dramatic rock anth…