Title: An ode to 'if-else': how this simple construct changed LinkedIn's engineering culture

Description:

I was part of LinkedIn's engineering team from 2009-2013. In that period, I saw LinkedIn transform from a slow moving organization perpetually behind schedule to a team hyper focused on continuously delivering value to their customers. There were many factors that made this change possible. One of the simplest and elegant was the mandate that every new feature should be wrapped in an if-else statement. In this talk, I will share my love for this basic idea and tell the story of how it changed a culture.