## Made the health of our system and processes a priority I significantly enhanced the performance and reliability of our software system by making system health a top priority. We rewrote SQL queries, C# functions, reorganized code, changed database type and many other things to ensure that the system was performing well as well as making sure the system will be maintainable in the future. As a result our users have experienced much smoother operations, especially during peak traffic times. They also encounter fewer instances where they are unable to perform their tasks due to system bugs or regressions. Furthermore, the cycle time from idea to feature deployment in production have been reduced. This was achieved through a combination of improving the development tools and collaborating with my employees to design a process that effectively addressed the observed pitfalls. These efforts resulted in a more productive and satisfying work environment for all involved. ## Changed from a silo to a hyper cooperation culture While scaling the development department from 6 full-time employees divided into a frontend and backend team to 15 full-time employees in 3 value aligned teams and an enabling team. I successfully transformed our work environment from a siloed structure focused on individuals to a hyper-cooperative culture. This was achieved by fostering a common culture that prioritized psychological safety and encouraged open and effective communication among team members. Employees were organized into value-aligned teams comprised of domain experts and developers. By mixing employees with different expertise and giving them autonomy to design their own processes we created an environment that facilitated seamless cooperation, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional collaboration. This approach allowed team members to leverage their specialized skills and work together towards common goals, resulting in increased efficiency and innovation. I implemented a hiring policy that emphasized collaboration and teamwork, in addition to technical skills, ensuring new hires aligned with our cultural values and contributed both soft and hard skills to high-performing teams. By introducing the mantra "walk, call, write" I cultivated a culture centered around fast feedback loops. This allowed employees to receive input on their work more quickly, enabling them to make necessary adjustments and improvements. As a result, we delivered value faster and built more useful features. ## Created a process where we delivered what we promised on time We cleaned up our backlog, reducing the number of items scheduled in each release from hundreds to 40 or less. Additionally, we allocated only 50% of our capacity for new important features in each release, providing flexibility to accommodate unexpected priorities or urgent requests. This approach ensured that we could deliver on our commitments without overburdening our teams. We also switched from making commitments far into the future to working with an ordered list of priorities defined by stakeholders. This agile approach allowed us to remain responsive to changing needs and emerging opportunities, delivering what was important in the present rather than what had been previously deemed important. Making this switch also made it possible for us to change to a pull model where we only took work in when the teams were ready instead of having work pushed upon the team. In addition, I empowered the experts within our teams to make critical decisions, reducing reliance on me. By trusting their expertise and granting autonomy, we improved the quality of our deliverables, avoided costly mistakes, reduced bottlenecks, and fostered a culture of empowerment and team accountability.