The Productivity Delusion: Gizmos, Resentment Metrics, and the Art of Deleting Code
Fri Jan 30 2026
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Dorota, CEO of Authress, returns to apply the US Supreme Court’s definition of obscenity to a scandalous topic: Engineering Productivity. In a world obsessed with AI-driven efficiency, Dorota and Warren argue that software development productivity has nothing to do with manufacturing "gizmos" and everything to do with feelings. They dismantle the factory-floor mentality that equates typing speed with value, suggesting instead that the most productive work often happens while staring out a train window or disassociating in the shower.
>The conversation takes a dark turn into the reality of performance reviews. If productivity is subjective, how do you decide who gets promoted? Dorota proposes the "Resentment Metric"—ignoring Jira tickets in favor of figuring out who the team has secret concerns fo. They also roast the "100% utilization" fallacy, noting that a fully utilized highway is just a parking lot, and the same logic applies to engineering teams that don't schedule downtime for actual thinking.
>Ultimately, they land on a definition of productivity that would make any optimizer proud: deleting things. If the best code is no code, then the most productive engineer is the one removing waste, deleting replicas, and emptying S3 buckets. The episode wraps up with a credit-card-sized transformer (it's a tripod) and a book recommendation on why your international colleagues might be misinterpreting your silence.
>💡 Notable Links:
DevOps Episode: DORA 2025 ReportResearch: Happy software developers solve problems better🎯 Picks:
Warren - Book: The Culture MapDorota - GEOMETRICAL Pocket tripod
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Share Episode Dorota, CEO of Authress, returns to apply the US Supreme Court’s definition of obscenity to a scandalous topic: Engineering Productivity. In a world obsessed with AI-driven efficiency, Dorota and Warren argue that software development productivity has nothing to do with manufacturing "gizmos" and everything to do with feelings. They dismantle the factory-floor mentality that equates typing speed with value, suggesting instead that the most productive work often happens while staring out a train window or disassociating in the shower. >The conversation takes a dark turn into the reality of performance reviews. If productivity is subjective, how do you decide who gets promoted? Dorota proposes the "Resentment Metric"—ignoring Jira tickets in favor of figuring out who the team has secret concerns fo. They also roast the "100% utilization" fallacy, noting that a fully utilized highway is just a parking lot, and the same logic applies to engineering teams that don't schedule downtime for actual thinking. >Ultimately, they land on a definition of productivity that would make any optimizer proud: deleting things. If the best code is no code, then the most productive engineer is the one removing waste, deleting replicas, and emptying S3 buckets. The episode wraps up with a credit-card-sized transformer (it's a tripod) and a book recommendation on why your international colleagues might be misinterpreting your silence. >💡 Notable Links: DevOps Episode: DORA 2025 ReportResearch: Happy software developers solve problems better🎯 Picks: Warren - Book: The Culture MapDorota - GEOMETRICAL Pocket tripod