# 297: Mice to Do My Bidding

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2019-08-02
- Length: 1h 12m
- Episode: 297
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/297-mice-to-do-my-bidding

## Summary

Chris Svec, a software lead at iRobot, discusses his philosophy of 'hope-driven development' as a way to improve software quality and workplace culture. He argues that intentionally focusing on positive outcomes—fewer bugs and faster feature development—primes engineers to notice and fix issues rather than succumbing to cynicism. Svec outlines practical steps for individual contributors and leaders to drive incremental improvements, such as using Seth Godin's 'Three Wishes' exercise and maintaining a public 'Airing of Grievances' wiki to socialize technical debt.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=6) Introduction and Lightning Round
- [6:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=408) The Goal: Fewer Bugs and Faster Development
- [10:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=626) Empathy-Driven Development and Future Self
- [14:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=871) Defining Hope and the Gorilla Experiment
- [26:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=1619) Seth Godin's Three Wishes and Small Improvements
- [31:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=1890) Socializing Tech Debt and Measuring Progress
- [46:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=2760) Overcoming Cynicism and Professionalism
- [58:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding#t=3529) Maintaining Momentum and Celebrating Mistakes

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- iRobot (company)
- AMD (company)
- Seth Godin (other)
- Root (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Three Ways of DevOps](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2022-09-06-the-three-ways-of-devops) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Engineering Incentives... and Misincentives](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-04-engineering-incentives-and-misincentives) (Oxide and Friends)
- [S2E46 How To Build A Workplace People Love |  Rich Sheridan](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-10-29-s2e46-how-to-build-a-workplace-people-love-rich-sheridan) (Being an Engineer)
- [Breaking it down with Ian Brown](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-12-27-breaking-it-down-with-ian-brown) (Oxide and Friends)
- [S7E1 A Joyful Approach to Product Development | Lisa Ho & Andrew Muyanja (Menlo Innovations)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-01-02-s7e1-a-joyful-approach-to-product-development-lisa-ho-andrew-muyanja-menlo-innov) (Being an Engineer)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-02-297-mice-to-do-my-bidding. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.