Ibrahim Bashir
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amateur parent. professional traveler. bibliophile. inept photog. one liner artist. citizen of the world.
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- Summary
I work on Platform Engineering initiatives at Twitter - we're hiring! #JoinTheFlock
Previously, I led cross-functional programs and managed technical delivery in the Kindle group at Amazon.
In my former (professional) life, I consulted for a Big 4 firm, solving interesting problems and playing a variety of roles for clients in the technology sector.
Experience- Jun 2012 - PresentLead, Technical Program Management [Platform] / Twitter
I'm part of a team working on programs that cut across the platform and beyond. We're partnering w/ engineering to build new capabilities, improve reliability and efficiency, and enable flexibility. And we're hiring TPMs - drop me a note on LinkedIn, find me on Twitter (@ibrahimbashir), or apply at twitter.com/jobs
- Mar 2010 - Jun 2012Principal, Technical Program Management [Kindle] / Amazon
At Amazon, I fulfilled my destiny as a lifelong bibliophile / technologist and led Kindle initiatives across hardware, software, services, and content. I also spent a lot of time hiring and mentoring TPMs. And Beta testing products.
My first job was managing the Kindle Keyboard program, which gave me an opportunity to learn every facet of the business (software, store, accessories, forecasting, operations, logistics, sales channels, support, finance, marketing, merchandising, legal, and PR). We announced and shipped to over 150 countries and I went on to lead UK / DE market expansion, focusing on localized user experiences (on- and off- device). My team wrote the playbook on launch management and transitioned it from a stressful episode to a routine event.
My breadth of exposure allowed me to lead a variety of teams – highlights included updating the fulfillment pipeline for a serial # format change, arranging a device giveaway for Oprah, and driving a brand new product line (Kindle with Special Offers).
The last stage of my Amazon career started with managing the Kindle Fire program – I was responsible for launching a new business and served as the overall lead, executive liaison, and technical SME for 50+ teams. My team partnered with engineering orgs to revamp the existing architecture and build new features that spanned the device framework and platform services (out-of-the-box setup, single sign-on, device management, content delivery / sync, benefit entitlement, over-the-air updates). We brought together core digital businesses (Kindle, MP3, Instant Video, Appstore, Silk, Prime) into a cohesive service offering.
After a series of successful launches and releases, I conceived and built a new TPM org focused on tablets. Our charter was to expand the software ecosystem, enable further integration (Shop, Local, Audible, GameCircle, Cloud Drive), and unlock wow features (Whispersync, FreeTime, X-Ray), which the team continues to do for the Kindle Fire family.
- Feb 2005 - Mar 2010Sr. Consultant [Technology Integration] / Deloitte Consulting
I managed engagements for the consulting arm of the Deloitte global firms, with an emphasis on technology integration and custom development. I also spent a lot of time building and tuning teams. And living out of a suitcase.
I led engineering teams through all phases of the lifecycle and learned the in's and out's of a professional services org (proposals, presentations, contracts, deliverables) while contributing to business development and market offerings. I grew my scope from leading engineering teams to leading engagements and transitioned my focus from well-defined deliverables to delivering the undefined – achievements included building document automation software used across public health agencies in 30 states, implementing a web operations center for telecom online sales channels, and earning platinum status at every major hotel chain.
- Jan 2003 - Feb 2005Software Architect [Systems] / McMaster-Carr
I worked across the web stack to strengthen and expand the online sales presence, overseeing a 50% growth in daily orders via a series of architectural enhancements and feature launches. I also spent a lot of time increasing developer productivity via tools and standards. And coordinating new hire orientation.
My first team was tasked with improving the checkout pipeline, focusing on everything from cart to confirmation. I served as the technical lead (responsible for both design and code) as we rearchitected and refactored to deliver a host of new features (order history, estimated tax, product bookmarks, email confirmation, shipping options, address book, payment methods). Piece by piece, we tackled every recurring theme in customer feedback.
My next mandate was to simplify and automate the rollout of web features – my team drilled into everything from the code repository to the build process to the staging environment to the server deployment. We ultimately reduced the average migration time from one night to one hour and reduced the operational support burden by 75%.
- 2002 - 2002Software Developer [Nuclear Medicine] / University of Michigan Health System
I was hired by the Nuclear Medicine division of the Radiology department as the first engineer to work on porting a legacy medical imaging application (4D-MSPECT) from Unix to Windows. I spent the summer on functional parity and then moved onto improving product usability and increasing user efficiency. I added several new features as part of the relaunch of the product, including archival/retrieval, format conversion, database connectivity, and a schema/browser for patient study files.
- 2001 - 2002Graduate Student Instructor [Algorithms] / University of Michigan
I worked for Professor Igor Markov as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for Introduction to Algorithms (EECS 477). My focus was leading weekly discussion sections and holding productive office hours – the core concepts we covered were algorithm proofs, design, and complexity. I designed and graded homework, projects, and exams. I also worked on class presentations / materials and periodically covered lecture for the professor.
Education-
2001 - 2002University of Michigan
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1998 - 2001The University of Texas at Dallas
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1994 - 1998Stratford High School
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Tweets
- RT @GalleyCat: Once Sold Tales bookstore in Seattle to close, struggling to find homes for 500,000 books: http://t.co/7l8G9rtQYX
- RT @girljournalist: Marissa Mayer's Tumblr: "We promise not to screw it up." http://t.co/vEU1nH0oCm
- @raffi congrats! and @babyparasite welcome!
- Watching a S. Korean adaptation of a Japanese manga series on Turkish TV, which is telling me use tag #yabancicegi http://t.co/Yw3X1XYbtV
- Either very early or very late for the show http://t.co/ORSz5acn4s
- RT @jonathanfields: Cool - Handwritten Manuscript Pages From Classic Novels http://t.co/zWAEgtCxRt via @thecreativepenn
- RT @mkonnikova: Wow. RT @social_brains: Scientists Invent Oxygen Particle That If Injected, Allows You To Live Without Breathing http://t.c…
- RT @levie: Opportunity lives at the intersection of what people need tomorrow and can be just barely built today.
- <3 traffic http://t.co/LqdIj6nMgL
- perfect end to a perfect day - Caltrain delayed for hours - jumped off at Palo Alto and trying to salvage thingsMay 03, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- check it out again http://t.co/1yJW7WNKWNMay 03, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- check it out http://t.co/1yJW7WNKWNMay 03, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Here is Today: http://t.co/45T6s8124k
- excited to start trying @riffle todayMay 02, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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Reading
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Posts
He was great. If he’d have gone to a major college he probably would have been an NBA player. He was a surprisingly gifted athlete and unbelievably tough. But I ended up cutting him. He tried out for the Denver Nuggets and I cut his ass. But we always stayed close. One year he took a sabbatical (in the mid 1980s) and was going to stay at North Carolina for a while and then come with me (at Kansas). He ended up staying with me the whole year. When I was offered the Spurs job, I asked him to come with me. He was best man at my wedding and we’ve been close (ever since). Again, there’s no better guy, no better coach, than him.
Larry Brown on Greg Popovich via Ball Don’t LieWhen I’m on the break or in transition or in certain spots where a pass is about to be made, I’m not really looking at any one person. I see all 10 guys and one big shape and that shape is moving. It’s slack in some places and in some places it’s strong and I’ve just naturally developed a thing where I’m able to get into the weaker parts where that slack is so that one of my teammates is open. That’s the best way I can describe it: it’s like one big moving shape. If you look at one guy you’re not going to be that successful. But if you see all ten as one big moving shape then it’s better.
Royce White via TrueHoop
Teams rebound after losing great players. But it’s much harder for a great player to rebound after losing himself.
Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel via TrueHoop on Dwight Howard’s inevitable departure from the MagicI’m gonna come at you in the first quarter, I’m gonna come at you in the second quarter, I’m gonna come at you in the third. But I said, In the fourth, I’m gonna go over here, because this young kid could close out games. And he could make free throws. You could be mad at me, but I’m keepin’ it real. Phil is here to win Championships. This is why we’re here. We’re not here to be friends. We want to win Championships now.
Ron Harper to Shaq, via SLAMI shouldn’t have a problem. I’ll be fine. That day will come, though. The key is not to let [expletives] like you see it when it gets here. I’m just gonna get out before you even notice a thing.
Kobe Bryant on retirement
via TrueHoop
If they’re picked to win the West, we certainly like that. That’s a good sign. We’re not too far away then.
Jason Terry, finding the silver lining in the 0-3 cloud.
via ESPN
The great ones have bad games, average ones very rarely have great games.
Scott Brooks, on Russell Westbrook, a bad game, exchanges between teammates, and much ado about nothing - via ESPNWhen you see him run tonight, it will be the first time I’ve seen him run, too. We’ll see together.
Kevin McHale (on Dalembert’s readiness)
Kevin McHale might be the next Phil Jackson.
(via nbaoffseason)
On some level, you just have to enjoy the sausage and not worry about how it’s made.
Hat tip to TrueHoop
The factor that can’t be controlled is there are certain markets that are just more attractive to free agents. I mean get over it. Most people would rather go to LA than Cleveland. If you don’t like that then go buy LA.
Steve Kerr’s advice to Dan GilbertYou know what I have to play with? Twenty-one feet of s—-.
Jordan on his trio of centers (Luc Longley, Joe Kleine, Bill Wennington) in 1998
I guess I didn’t take less enough
Dirk on Tyson Chandler’s potential exit from the Mavs via free agency
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Posts
- May 04, 13
A Sr. TPM is normally an individual contributor role - you can move laterally into management and be a Mgr, TPM or one level up on the IC track would be Principal TPM. One level up on the management track would be Sr. Mgr, TPM. So, a Principal and Sr. Mgr are the same level at Amazon. From there, the next level is Dir. In terms of function, a lot of folks in the TPM track switch to the engineering management track (Dev Mgr, Sr. Dev Mgr, Dir Engineering) and vice versa.
Although there are many criteria that distinguish a TPM from Sr. TPM from Principal TPM, the core difference is the degree of breadth or level of depth in programs managed and delivered.
See question on Quora - May 02, 13
- Mar 29, 13
On most newer Kindle devices (but perhaps not the apps) you can go to Settings and change your default dictionary. There are many third-party dictionaries available in the Kindle Store, so there may be one that works well for Game of Thrones. In fact, you might be onto a whole untapped market for universe-specific dictionaries (think Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter). A dictionary is slightly different than a regular Kindle book in that it has certain metadata hooks for the core application software to plug into (and surface definitions when you're reading other books) - from personal experience, the quality level of third-party dictionaries varies, so read reviews before purchasing.
I think you've pointed out a great opportunity for publishers to start bundling more useful meta-content with books that warrant it (surfacing that content via a dictionary, x-ray, voiceover, etc is really an implementation detail).
See question on Quora - Mar 24, 13
No, you can only see the length once you're in the doc or get a sense of how far along you are by the % progress bar on the carousel
See question on Quora - Mar 22, 13
The gifter needs to know your email address in order to gift you content - (user)name is not part of the flow.
Amazon.com Help: Giving and Receiving Kindle Book Gifts
See question on Quora - Mar 21, 13
Email and web browsing should work fine as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. Most of the sites you mention will be functional, although perhaps not optimized UI-wise for that screen size.
With regards to documents, you can get free apps to manage most file formats, and there is always the Kindle Personal Documents Service if you want to convert content and view natively.
See question on Quora - Feb 25, 13
Since the questioner asked which ebook ecosystem is better, I think it helps to define the dimensions along which we measure an ebook store:- selection - raw #'s on available titles - Kindle takes the edge
- marketplace - support for regions and locales - Kindle takes the edge
- price - this appears to have homogenized publisher-wise - tie
- platforms - can you read your purchased content on any device - tie
- formats - what's innovative beyond ebooks - Kindle takes the edge
- integration - are third-party networks and platform supported - tie
- experience - how easy is it to browse, sample, buy - Kindles takes the edge
All in all, Kindle is either at parity with or exceeds Kobo in every major category, therefore I'd go with the Kindle ecosystem.
Disclaimer: I use to work on the Kindle and am forever biased
See question on Quora - Feb 25, 13
The short answer to your question is no - there is no API access to the Whispersync feature that I'm aware of.
The longer answer is this is a great feature idea, but entails a host of other API services being in place, ranging from authentication to rate limiting to access delegation, so unless Amazon were going to offer API access to other Kindle data, it wouldn't make sense to put the infrastructure plumbing in place required to deliver this.
For your specific use case, for a small number of children reading a small number of books simultaneously, why isn't the built in "progress meter" sufficient for school tracking purposes?
See question on Quora - Jan 22, 13
This feature, although a very cool idea, does not exist. I've pinged some folks who manage the Kindle Personal Documents Service so they are aware of this request.
Not to solve this on Quora, but if I'm thinking of this correctly, you would want to be able to set some indicator in the email (in the subject line?) and if that collection exists on a device, it ends up in it (and if no such collection exists or not on the target device, then it goes to the default Docs library)?
See question on Quora - Jan 18, 13
From the FAQ:
Q: Can I turn on Public Notes for newspapers, magazines, blogs, or personal documents?
This feature is available for books bought through the Kindle store. It is not available for newspapers, magazines, blogs or personal documents.
I know that doesn't answer your next question, which is why not? I've pinged someone in Amazon's social reading team on your behalf.
See question on Quora - Jan 02, 13
I was asked to answer this...but I don't follow the question. The Kindle Fire device family does have app icons...?
See question on Quora - Nov 18, 12
- Nov 15, 12
I was actually asked this during a job interview - and my answer then, and now, is Melquíades the gypsy / ghost character in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
If you've read the book you'll understand why. And if you haven't...well, I'm not going to spoil it for you.
See question on Quora - Sep 12, 12
The words "albums similar to" in your question immediately made be think of Pandora. A quick Google (or Bing) search will tell you that the folks behind the sound track are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. You can use that to create a new Pandora station - and here you go: http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh102...
See question on Quora - Sep 10, 12
I actually prefer a blank (new page) tab when I start the browser because it reduces page load time.
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
The Kindle Fire HD devices announced in Sep 2012 do indeed support "location-based services via Wi-Fi" http://www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
The range of Kindle titles available does vary from country to country, but I think different (vs. reduced) would be a more apt characterization. For example, there are books available to non-US customers that are not available to US customers. This is due to the idiosyncracies of in-country publisher agreements. I don't have specific #'s on selection by country, but I don't think this would be hard to calculate (the Kindle Store is a public catalog).
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
Kindle does not automatically do this - it's an interesting idea - but for everyone who sees this as a feature there would be someone who would see it as interference. Perhaps it could be off by default with explicit opt-in? Or maybe an option to highlight candidates for archiving based on size, % read, or timestamp.
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
Without getting into specifics "no one really buys the non-special offers version" Jeff Bezos http://allthingsd.com/20120906/i...
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
A few thoughts:- You also can't purchase the full book and send to multiple devices at once
- Reading a sample is pretty quick (usually 1 chapter or so) - is having it on multiple devices really a common use case?
- Think of the UI implications of supporting targeting multiple devices at purchase time - some users have many devices and apps registered - it gets out of control fast
- The original Kindles were non-Wi-Fi and Amazon was footing the bill for wireless delivery - having this option would probably lead to some folks (unnecessarily) using it and (unnecessarily) raising data costs
- Once you've purchased a book, it appears in "archived items" on all devices / apps and can quickly be retrieved (including location sync)
See question on Quora - Sep 08, 12
The latest generation of Kindle Fire HD devices http://amazon.com/kindlefirehd have platform-level integration with Facebook and Twitter. That means social network hooks are available to all first-class apps (Books, Newsstand, Shop, Games, Photos, Apps, Music, Videos, Audiobooks, Web) once the user has gone through an initial set-up to link their Facebook/Twitter account to their Amazon account.
That said, creating the underlying social integration layer is just step #1 - what features each pre-loaded app builds on top of it is a separate story - but at least now there is the flexibility to do so.
And you are right on both counts - it is infuriating for the sharing-savvy user and it is a byproduct of clashing priorities.
See question on Quora - Sep 06, 12
- Sep 05, 12
McMaster-Carr has a Systems department which handles internal software development, including the website. I actually worked on a lot of the front-end functionality (among other things) during my tenure there and we had 1 person who was essentially the UX lead (I'm sure the team / function has expanded since then).
The design philosophy for the website was heavily influence by Edward Tufte and myself and several folks from my engineering team were enrolled in his course to familiarize ourselves with key concepts.
When I interviewed with McMaster-Carr I distinctly remember a Director who told me about building the first version of the website himself and not realizing it would become "a real thing" one day. I cannot for the life of me remember his name, but he was a sharp guy and I'm sure he's off doing great things. We walked into work one Monday morning, and his desk was empty and his whiteboard said "poof".
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
It does come w/ an Amazon Shop app that can be used to browse and purchase physical goods - it's under the Apps library on your home screen
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/cu...
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
If you are subscribed to periodicals (newspapers / magazines) via the Kindle Store, they are automatically delivered based on their regular schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
I remember going back and forth with various Product Managers on this. In fact, I think I ultimately pushed through the 6.x.y numbering convention vs. other proposals.
Basically, the Kindle Fire was the 6th major Kindle hardware device:
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
Are you referring to a third-party accessory (e.g. book cover)? If so, feel free to connect on LinkedIn and I can set you up with some product management / business development folks who can help.
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
For the original (2011) Kindle Fire, the only Cloud Drive content that auto-magically shows up in your on-device library is music (assuming it's a compatible format).
If you want to get personal documents onto your Fire (PDF or otherwise), you can email them to your @kindle email address and they will be delivered for free to the Docs library (accessible via the home screen). To find out what your @kindle email address is, visit Manage Your Kindle (http://amazon.com/myk) -> Manage Your Devices -> Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address
Starting with 2012 devices (including the Kindle Fire HDs) all of your Documents and Photos stored in Cloud Drive are automatically accessible from the device.
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
Sticking with your specific use case (US customer who purchases in the US and then travels abroad), I've outlined the customer experience below [1].- Books / Periodicals - the catalog selection is filtered based on your country setting (http://www.amazon.com/myk) and traveling doesn't change that - you can still purchase and read the same US selection
- Music - songs and albums that you've previously purchased and downloaded can be still be listened to, along with other compatible music that you've loaded into Cloud Drive
- Videos - previously purchased and downloaded movies / shows can be viewed on the device, but streaming options will be limited based on your IP address [2]
- Apps - apps that you've purchased and installed continue to work, but the experience may be altered by in-app hooks that rely on you being in the US (e.g. ads)
- Web - the Silk browser works but you may start to see region-specific sites served to you by default [3]
[1] the experience differs significantly if you are a non-US-based customer who purchases a Fire (let's say during your travels to the US) and registers it to a non-US-based Amazon account.
[2] both Netflix and Hulu also suffer from this - a result of studio agreements
[3] I took my Fire w/ me on my trip to Malaysia and visiting http://news.google.com would redirect to http://news.google.com.my/
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
No - you can remotely deregister the device (assuming Wi-Fi connectivity), but that won't delete all content - the only way to do that is go to settings menu on the device itself and perform a factory reset.
Steps to remotely deregister:- Go to Manage Your Kindle http://amazon.com/myk
- Click on Manage Your Devices
- Click Deregister next to the appropriate device
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
You can self-publish physical media (books, music, videos) with CreateSpace https://www.createspace.com/ which is owned and operated by Amazon
See question on Quora - Sep 03, 12
I actually asked myself this question all the time when I was a Graduate Student Instructor (http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/gsi-sa/) at UMich teaching an algorithms class (EECS 477 http://www.engin.umich.edu/bulle...) - I learned 2 things:- There is no authoritative source for CLR(S) Q&A
- I was looking for the wrong thing
Not to get too philosophical, but "it's the journey that matters" and I would venture that the authors have not published a definitive solution manual for this reason. The book is written and structured in a way that allows you to progressively build upon and apply the concepts you learned in earlier chapters to future ones.
That said, here is a technique that I used occasionally to vet my own approach to problems in the book:- Make a list of top CS programs (http://grad-schools.usnews.ranki...)
- Go to each school / department's website and find the course listing page
- Find the course name / number for their introductory / advanced algorithms class
- Find the course page for current / past semesters - there will be a wealth of notes for you to study
Also, if you're truly stuck, feel free to reach out - once a teacher, always a teacher =)
See question on Quora - Jul 04, 12
Short Answer: GMail + "todo" label
Long Answer:- email yourself w/ the task as subject
- tag it w/ a "todo" label and archive
- check the "todo" label to see your list
- delete emails as you complete tasks
- bonus: use secondary labels for time (now, later) or status (stuck, done)
Although I like and have used the approach recommended by Michael Sinanian in the past, I ultimately realized the act of the extra click into the TXT file was unnecessary overhead. And to folks who will complain about the lack of features in this technique, my rebuttal would be that a todo list should be short-lived and lightweight.
As for the for original question, I find GMail to be consistently available across devices and platforms, either via browser or native app, so access isn't a concern.
See question on Quora - Jun 28, 12
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a mind-bending conclusion, although some readers will complain it's a bit gimmicky. The book does a great job of weaving together a rich tapestry of characters, which ultimately adds a great deal of heft to the ending. Also, bonus points for bringing the story full circle in an unexpected manner.
See question on Quora - Jun 27, 12
Sharp has tweaked the Android user interface significantly with Feel UX http://www.androidauthority.com/...
See question on Quora - Jun 27, 12
What's different?- I'm doing things myself - if I'm relying on someone else to complete a task and their response time doesn't fit with when I need things, I set about understanding how to do it myself - example: rather than waiting for a DBA to run a query for me, I ask for read access to the DB and write some SQL
- I'm using web 2.0 tools - more and more I'm leveraging LinkedIn, Quora, Twitter, Scribd, SlideShare, etc. to get different viewpoints on how to approach problems and set about solving them
- I'm multi-tasking intelligently - whereas previously I vacillated between single-threaded focus on a problem or spreading myself too thin, I prioritize a core set of issues that need my attention and tackle them as 1 batch
- I'm relying on my team - trusting the people around you allows you to hand off large chunks of work and know that they will be delivered the way you would
- I'm becoming technology agnostic - I use whatever platform is readily available from MacBook Pro to Unix shell to Android tablet to Windows Phone
What have I learned?- Understanding the the sub-tasks involved in getting something done will make you appreciate the level of effort more - it also gives you a gut-check against scoping estimates that skew too high or too low
- Work has morphed into solving problems that are "new" - there is no definitive answer a lot of times and you need the collective wisdom of others facing the same problems to find the right solution for your case
- Everyone has a multi-tasking threshold - you need to determine how many things you can juggle effectively at once and not go beyond that
- Making great hiring decisions and evaluating talent effectively allows you to build a strong team, replicate your best attributes, and take on more complex projects
- Learning different tools to do the same type of work (e.g. Visio vs. OmniGraffle) gives you an appreciation for various paradigms and makes you a little more MacGyver-esque (i.e. work within the confines of your environment)
Is this part of a larger pattern?
Yes. It started subconsciously as the need arose to become more efficient and scale, but now it's ingrained behavior on my part to think about how I'm working and look for ways to improve.
See question on Quora - Apr 24, 12
I've screened and interviewed numerous TPM candidates and went through the process myself - my thoughts below. Please note I get calls weekly asking this same question and I dispense advice freely because (1) I'm not giving away any earth-shattering secrets and (2) I want to make sure the right hiring decisions are made for both sides [candidate and company].
One side note for anyone considering a technical program management role of any kind at any company - my personal opinion is that in any project of decent size there will be a moment where nothing is going right and the entire team will look for a leader to bring sanity - you can either (a) run screaming from the room or (b) embrace the chaos and bring order. Picture that moment for a second - if you still want in, then you should apply.
Role- Amazon TPM's wear different hats and this varies across teams/programs
- The job ranges from project manager to technical architect based on need
- You will get to own any/all problems you can take on - no roadblocks
- You are the "glue" between product, design, engineering, and QA
- Clear/crisp communication can make/break a TPM - interview and beyond
- A demonstrated ability to get things done is paramount - the job is delivery
Process- Phone Screen #1 - broad question set at discretion of screener - goal is to gauge whether you have the basic chops and warrant a 2nd screen
- Phone Screen #2 - refined question set to clarify any gaps identified by 1st screener or hit areas not covered - goal is to decide whether to do an on-site
- In-Person Loop - you'll talk to your potential teammates, boss, boss's boss, and an objective, non-partisan Amazonian ["bar raiser"] based on availability
Tips- Know the product - not saying use the product (e.g. Amazon.com) or buy the product (e.g. Kindle) but understand the customer perspective
- Read the job description - a lot of expectations are clearly called out and it's your guide to help prep for the phone and in-person discussions
- There's a "T" in TPM - you will be expected to engage in technical discussions w/ engineers, debate the merits of architecture A vs. B, etc.
- Your resume is fair game - too many people have projects on their resumes that they can't speak to - if you were there and had a stake, be ready to talk
- Process is a four-letter word - flexibility and agility matter when you're trying to execute - structure is good, but process is overhead - still Day 1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/geor...
- You are both interviewee and interviewer - don't be afraid to ask questions, learn about the job, gauge your potential peers, and push for specifics
- Brush up on the Computer Science basics - data structures, algorithms, computation complexity, design paradigms, etc.
- Known Amazon's bread and better - look at the problems solved to date and the problems yet to be solved - think about operational excellence
- Make decisions based on data - how have you done this is in the past? what would you revisit in hindsight? what are good metrics needed to do this?
- It's program management, not people management - you may have direct reports and a virtual team to help, but ultimately you drive through consensus
- A program manager is a consensus builder - your primary goal is to ship, whereas every other stakeholder at the table has competing objectives - drive the discussion and decision-making process w/ the end-user goal in mind
- Ambiguity is part of the fun - you don't always get a fully fleshed out requirements document, mock-ups don't cover everything, not every use case is thought through, technical documentation may be lacking - can you deal?
- You have to tap into tribal knowledge - not everything is on a wiki - set up coffee w/ the folks who built things and start taking notes
See question on Quora - Apr 24, 12
Coding is a craft and can therefore be practiced, honed, and
refined. Some general tips for developing a “clean” programming style:- Architecture - draw one to understand where your component or service fits
- Workflow - create one that illustrates the entry and exit points into your code
- Pseudo-code - write out your algorithm(s) before you get in front of an IDE
- Design – have technical leads review your design to vet any key decisions
- Documentation – draft your release notes first to focus on the end-user
- Code reviews – ask for them but also participate as a reviewer
- Testing – keep in mind that a QAE or script will validate and verify
- Debugging – give yourself tools to help during testing and post-release
- Exception Handling – plan for errors and think beyond the “happy path”
- Corner Cases – look at load & edge scenarios that appear well after DAy 1
- Metrics – define and incorporate them so you can improve things in v2.0
- Readability – use a clear convention for variables, functions, classes, etc.
- Profiling – use tools to understand your 80/20 code execution path
- Maintenance – your code will outlast your tenure - think of the next guy
- Spacing – this is minor but clear begin/end syntax is easier to follow
See question on Quora - Sep 04, 11
I'm guilty of having used this on occasion: don't pack a cell phone charger.
When you get to your hotel, walk up to the front desk and tell them you left your <insert common phone brand> charger there the last time you stayed with them - they will invariably find one in their massive drawer of left-behind chargers.
When you're checking out, don't forget to "accidentally" leave your charger for the next guest.
See question on Quora - Jan 17, 11
A successful consulting firm does 2 things well:- Manages client engagements smoothly
- Bids on and wins new engagements via RFP responses
A robust “knowledge exchange” serves both functions listed above, and therefore a dedicated team is usually on-point to make sure the intellectual capital being developed is collected, cleansed, organized, and hosted. The tools used by this team can range from a simple document repository to a full-fledged content management system. Whatever feature gap exists between the capabilities of the tool and the expectations of the organization is filled via manual effort on the part of the knowledge management team. As this team grows and matures, industry and competency sub-teams and leaders should be identified.
There are many different content types a knowledge exchange should support, in order of prevalence:- Presentations (proposals, assessments, roadmaps)
- Spreadsheets (frameworks, project plans, schedules)
- Text Documents (requirements, specs)
- Diagrams (workflows, architecture, infographics)
The challenges a knowledge management team faces in serving a large consulting firm include:- Keeping documentation up-to-date
- Encouraging consultants to contribute
- Scrubbing out client-specific information
- Tagging materials with accurate metadata
- Supporting last-minute requests and rapid turn-around
Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say knowledge management is neglected, it is sometimes treated as an after-thought and is always high on the list of “lessons learned” for any post-engagement recap.
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