The Managers' Guide #103

When standing as a group of people, always leave room for 1 person to join your group. The Pac-Man Rule of Conferences Ephemeral taskforce * 🚀 Core Idea — Ephemeral taskforces are temporary, focused units bringing together diverse skills to solve a specific, critical problem, then disbanding — offering agility without permanent restructuring. * 🎯 Key

The Managers' Guide #102

I don’t hold on to anything, don’t reject anything; nowhere an obstacle or conflict. Layman Pang How to make architecture decisions * ⚖️ Embrace Trade-offs — Architectural decisions are rarely about finding a “perfect” solution, but rather understanding and choosing the best set of compromises — or the “least bad” option — for

The Managers' Guide #101

Your mind is a mad monkey trying to understand life which is unfair and crazy. Get used to it. Maxime Lagacé Complain & Propose * 😠 The Problem with Unadorned Complaints * Simply complaining without offering a way forward can be unproductive — it often fosters negativity, drains collective energy, and implicitly places the

The Managers' Guide #100

Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child. Soyen Shaku Lessons learned in 35 years of making software * 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Human Element is Central — Software development is fundamentally about people — users, stakeholders, and the team. Effective communication, empathy, and understanding motivations are often more critical than

The Managers' Guide #99

We just let it happen… and that’s the beauty of this technique. Bob Ross The CTO's Hidden Notebook * 📓 Beyond the Code — The article posits that a CTO's effectiveness hinges significantly on mastering aspects beyond pure technology. This “hidden notebook” contains the unwritten rules and implicit

The Managers' Guide #98

Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort. Yamamoto Tsunetomo Seven tips to help you succeed when presenting to executives * 😬 — Presenting to executives is high-stakes; success makes a positive impression, while stumbling can create a negative one. * ⏱️ — Executives are a demanding audience, often short on

The Managers' Guide #97

Little people try to control everything. Thus, they control nothing. Wise people focus on one thing, the most important, and let go of the rest. - Maxime Lagacé Goal-O-Rama * 🎯 Product teams often fall into “goal-o-rama” — setting too many goals that become overwhelming and counterproductive, particularly when they cascade KPIs and

The Managers' Guide #96

The first and the best victory is to conquer self. - Plato Design Your Organization for the Conflicts You Want to Hear About 🔍 The author presents two key organization design principles: * Design for the conflicts you want to hear about * Don't put department B under department A unless

The Managers' Guide #95

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else. - Shunryu Suzuki Salary expectations questions - How should you answer them? How to approach the dreaded salary expectation question as a candidate. * ❓ Understand the employer's motive: Companies ask about salary expectations primarily to ensure

The Managers' Guide #94

Relax. Nothing’s missing. - Maxime Lagacé 💡Wait… something has changed, right? Well, yes. I've decided to leave Substack. I'm now using the Ghost platform, but the rest is unchanged — the same old newsletter. PwC’s 2024 Workforce Radar Report * 🔄 Transformation Urgency — Business leaders must act

The Managers' Guide 93

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. - Shunryu Suzuki 💡Wait… something has changed, right? Well, yes. I've decided to leave Substack. I'm now using the Ghost platform,

The Manager's Guide – #92

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