The Managers' Guide № 129
AI gains are modest. Slow feedback loops cost you a full engineer. You already know the hard call. And the best work doesn't feel like grinding. Research-backed insights on what actually drives engineering productivity.
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The Managers' Guide № 128
Essential engineering leadership insights: operationalize strategy, master outcome-based OKRs, and manage senior talent. Covers AI code reviews, social capital, build-vs-buy tactics, and team coordination.
The Managers' Guide № 127
Master engineering leadership with essential insights on handling toxic top performers, splitting bloated teams, and breaking the false consensus effect. Plus, learn why avoiding negativity echo chambers is the ultimate career hack
The Managers' Guide № 126
From the “Third Door” of High Agency to the risks of the AI era: a comprehensive guide. Explore why frameworks reduce cognitive load, how “going direct” solves problems faster, and why treating product development like poker creates better outcomes.
The Managers' Guide № 125
Master engineering leadership: learn “quiet influence” (Nemawashi), how to diagnose before delegating, the truth about metrics, and 7 key feedback phrases.
The Managers' Guide № 124
Become a high-impact leader with actionable frameworks for team management. Learn to gain engineering buy-in, mediate conflict, handle complaints, and give feedback that builds trust — all through powerful, simple micro-habits.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Managers' Guide #113
Feeding the error messages back into the LLM is the "banging the tv to fix the picture" of our generation.
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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