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August 20, 2024 37 mins

Shlomo Bielak is the Head of Engineering (Operational Excellence and Cloud) at Penn Interactive, an interactive gaming company.

He’s dedicated much of his talk time at DevOps events to talk about a topic less covered at such technical events. A lot of what he said alluded to ways to become a more valuable engineer.

I’ve broken them down into the following areas:

* Avoid the heroic efforts

* Mind + heart > Mind alone

* Curiosity > Credentials

* Experience > Certifications

* Thinking for complexity

When I saw him in Toronto, I thought he would talk about pre-production observability. It would only make sense after watching the previous presenter do a deep dive into Kubernetes tooling.

But surprisingly, he started about culture and the need to prevent burnout among engineers — a topic that is as important today as it was 2 years ago when he did the talk.

Here’s a look into Shlomo’s philosophy and the practices he champions.

Avoid the heroic efforts

Shlomo's perspective on heroics in engineering and operations challenges a traditional mindset that often glorifies excessive individual efforts at the cost of long-term sustainability.

He emphasizes that relying on heroics — where individuals consistently go above and beyond to save the day — creates an unhealthy work environment.

"We shouldn't be rewarding people for pulling all-nighters to save a project; we should be asking why those all-nighters were necessary in the first place."

This approach not only burns out engineers but also masks underlying systemic issues that need to be addressed. So, instead of celebrating these heroic efforts, Shlomo advocates for creating processes and metrics that ensure smooth operations without the need for constant intervention.

Mind + Heart > Mind alone

One of the challenges Shlomo has faced recently is scaling his engineering organization amidst rapid growth. His approach to hiring is unique; he doesn’t just look for technical skills but prioritizes self-awareness and kindness.

"Hiring with heart means looking for individuals who bring empathy and integrity to the team, not just expertise."

When he joined The Score, a subsidiary of Penn Interactive, Shlomo immediately revamped the hiring practices by integrating the values above into the process.

He favors role-playing scenarios over solely using behavioral interviews to evaluate candidates, as this method reveals how individuals might react in real production situations.

I tend to agree with this approach as seeing how people are doing the work is more enlightening than asking them how they behaved in a past situation alone.

Curiosity > credentials

How it plays into career progression

When it comes to career progression, Shlomo places little value on traditional markers like education or years of experience. Instead, he values adaptability, resilience, and curiosity. This last trait is the one he doubles down on.

According to Shlomo, curiosity is the cornerstone of continuous growth and innovation. It’s not just about asking questions. It’s about fostering a mindset that constantly seeks to understand the 'why' behind everything.

Shlomo advocates for a deep, insatiable curiosity that drives engineers to explore beyond the surface of problems, looking for underlying causes and potential improvements.

He believes that this kind of curiosity is what separates good engineers from great ones, as it leads to discovering solutions that aren’t immediately obvious and pushes the boundaries of what’s possible.

How it plays into teamwork

For Shlomo, curiosity also plays a crucial role in building a cohesive and forward-thinking team. He encourages leaders to cultivate an environment where questions are welcomed, and no stone is left unturned.

This approach not

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