The Managers' Guide #123
Unlock key lessons in leadership, strategy, and team management. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls, simplify complexity, and build stronger, more effective work relationships.
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The Managers' Guide #122
Everyone talks about scaling to $10k. Nobody mentions the psychological hell of going from $0 to $100. How to collaborate cross-functionally * 📊 A simple collaboration framework — Before engaging, ask yourself two questions: 1. Is this important? and 2. Do you have a strong opinion?. Your answers determine whether you should debate,
The Managers' Guide #121
Decode your tech offer's "golden handcuffs," learn to manage up (without changing your boss), and lead senior engineers with confidence. Get sharp, actionable insights for modern engineering leaders on compensation, communication, and career strategy.
The Managers' Guide #120
nsights for engineering leaders on AI's true impact, empathetic management, navigating project despair, career decisions, and long-term strategy.
The Managers' Guide #119
Is your developer identity limiting you? Discover how to redefine your role, protect your focus from constant pings, build a network that pushes you, defeat AI-driven burnout, and master the "observation + impact" formula for truly effective feedback.
The Managers' Guide #118
Master modern engineering. Understand why LLMs are a "blurry JPEG of the web," how to build cost-effective architectures (FinOps), and why documents are a manager's most powerful tool for scale.
The Managers' Guide #117
Make better decisions with rigorous thinking. Run complex projects smoothly and build products people love by focusing on interactions, not just features.
The Managers' Guide #116
Become a more effective leader with this guide covering AI's "cognitive debt," the art of concise communication, empowering "normal" engineers, the difference between being liked and being effective, and strategies for managing the lows of leadership.
The Managers' Guide #115
Is your prioritization framework flawed? This week, learn to master strategic urgency, disagree productively, and fix expectation mismatches with your manager. Plus: why your team needs more boredom.
The Managers' Guide #114
Discover how pizza orders predicted global crises, why AI chatbots can be persuaded like humans, and the secret to hiring engineers who build great teams.
The Managers' Guide #113
Feeding the error messages back into the LLM is the "banging the tv to fix the picture" of our generation.
The Managers' Guide #112
No, I didn't "forget your name", I didn't store it in the first place, it's called being GDPR compliant. Lead Forward, Even When the Path Isn’t Clear * 🌫 When the road disappears, leadership shines — True leadership emerges not when everything’s predictable,
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The Managers' Guide #111
From what tech workers are telling me, AI has been automating the role of "CEO's annoying nephew who needs to be included in your project or you get fired" The deadline doom loop * 🔄 The Vicious Cycle — The core idea is the “Deadline Doom Loop,” a cycle
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The Managers' Guide #110
Moore’s Law states that every two years, we double the amount of time we waste on computers. The Software Engineer Spectrum: Speed vs. Accuracy * 📊 Challenging the traditional “junior-mid-senior” career ladder — arguing it’s too linear and fails to capture the different ways an engineer can be valuable beyond just
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The Managers' Guide #109
hacker: I am spying on you through your webcam linux user: omg you got it working? Eyes light up (ELU) This is the moment when your audience is viscerally, undeniably excited about what you’re talking about. Aim for ELU. * 🔥 Growth comes from recognizing patterns — Understanding common patterns in successful
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The Managers' Guide #108
Why do we say 'slept like a baby'? Babies wake up every two hours crying. I want to sleep like my cat. 14 hours, no responsibilities, zero regrets. 5 things I learned from 5 years at Vercel “When I joined in 2020, we were 30 people and had
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The Managers' Guide #107
Boss: wow this web portal is really fast, light and responsive Me: of course it was 100% developed on Train WiFi it had to be light 😂 Maartje Leading with Integrity: Why the Best Leaders Are Models of Values * 🎯 Integrity isn’t just about honesty — it’s about a deep congruence
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The Managers' Guide #106
It's a common misconception that types exist on computers. In reality everything is just integers, except for floating point which are integers but fancy Eniko Fox Expert Generalists * 🧠 The core idea is the “T-shaped” individual — someone who combines deep, expert knowledge in one area (the vertical bar of
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The Managers' Guide #105
The hardest problem in computer science is getting someone to clearly describe a problem Tying yourself to the mast How to keep commitments * ⛵️ The Ulysses Pact — The central idea is the “Ulysses Pact” or commitment device — a strategy where your present self makes a choice that intentionally limits the options
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The Managers' Guide #104
The 3 kinds of queues are: - FIFO - LIFO - FAFO Matthew Martin The hidden time bomb in the tax code that's fueling mass tech layoffs * 💸 A tax rule change — part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — is the primary issue. Since 2022, companies can
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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
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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
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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
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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