No ownership and no authority
Over my career, I've worked with outsourced software developers - both firms and freelancers - very many times. And each time, I learned new lessons....
Unreasonably Sunny
Between binging "The Bear" and listening to an audiobook of Will Guidara's "Unreasonable Hospitality," I've been in an extended fine dining is software...
Skeptical AF
I experienced my first bit of client churn recently. A raw, start from zero startup, that had signed up for a build of a proof of concept around their idea...
Introducing Axiomatic
I've crossed seven months in business now, thanks to the connections I've made with many of you. The lights are still on, and I'm still making payroll. I've...
Optimistic AF
My knee jerk reaction to the essay heard around the entrepreneurial world, "Founder Mode" by Paul Graham of Y Combinator renown, was that a lot of founders...
I used to be a smart kid, you too?
Labor Day is past us and now the lazy, lilting days of summer are gone, too. There's football on the TV, and the kids are back to school. Summer's end has...
You aren't Google, thank goodness
What works at big tech companies doesn’t at the sort of companies I’ve worked for in my career. Places I’ve been that try to shoehorn in - cargo cult - those...
Beware the new shiny
Prefer boring over novel or clever. It was the first principle my team and I agreed to awhile back, and the first one I shared with you a few newsletter...
What “The 12 Week Year” reinforces
Hi. It’s been a hot minute - even if the weather here in Central Indiana has been quite cool. The end of the school year and the start of summer has been a...
It's the principle of the thing
I was rummaging through some old files sitting on my laptop recently, and stumbled across a list of principles we had as a team a few jobs back. Writing down...
Most problems are communication problems
As an engineering manager, you’re a communication conduit - you communicate down to your team about what the business is asking for and the context of the...
In retrospect on retrospectives
One of the more powerful tools you have at your disposal as a software engineering manager is the retrospective - specifically sprint and team retros. These...
Never touch the keyboard
On the blog this week, I did some storytelling around a formative experience in my career - and a rollicking few months of cranking on a new product. There...
The name of the game is feedback
New businesses - like software startups - thrive on feedback. They are essentially learning machines designed to turn feedback into revenue. Where I’ve seen...
Fear is the enemy
Fear is the mind-killer … or something like that. It’s also a momentum killer for engineers and engineering teams. Processes slow and progress comes more...
[Fourth Edition] Health care adventures
Fair warning, we’re going a little far afield this week and peeking a bit behind the curtain. This week’s newsletter is a day delayed because my early week...
[Third Edition] Under the weather
Today is a bit of a sick day - likely allergy-related as spring start to be sprung here in Central Indiana. I went for a run yesterday and came back to a...
Second Edition: There are no new ideas
“You’re talking about engineering manager therapy,” is something my own therapist said to me recently when I described what I plan to build here. And she’s...
First edition: Nothing Artifical
As I start building a business for myself, one that tries to help heal software engineering cultures and make stronger engineering managers, there are a...