The Awkward Adolescence of Growing Companies
Why growing companies get stuck with startup chaos plus corporate bureaucracy, and what mid-growth dysfunction looks like from the inside.
Beyond the Bugs
Calling out corporate dysfunction in tech while offering practical frameworks for engineering managers who want to lead without the bullshit.
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Latest episodes
The Skip-Level Meeting: A Field Guide
A practical framework for engineering managers on running effective skip-level meetings that build trust without undermining your direct reports.
Why Good Candidates Walk Away
Why good candidates walk away from broken hiring processes, from vague job posts to unpaid assignments and slow feedback loops.
Panel Interviews Are a Group Project, and Nobody Did the Work
A rant on under-prepared panel interviews, why they’re unfair, and why structure matters for neurodivergent candidates and interviewers.
Performative Process and Other Workplace Rituals
A blunt look at ritualized process, when ceremonies replace thinking, templates replace decisions, and teams optimize for optics over outcomes.
How to Run a Retrospective That Doesn't Waste Time
A practical framework for running engineering team retrospectives that lead to real change instead of another meeting nobody remembers.
Herding Cats, Dogs, and That One Engineer Who Still Uses Vim
A blunt guide to managing cats, dogs, turtles, and tool purists on engineering teams, plus why refusing AI coding tools is a career risk when efficiency wins.
AI Burnout: When “AI All the Things” Becomes a Cult
A blunt look at AI burnout: how “AI everything” turns work into an endless output machine, why using AI for art and music crosses a line, and a practical personal policy for using AI without losing your mind.
Interviews Don’t Measure the Thing You Think They Do
They mostly measure comfort under artificial pressure.
Managing Up When Your Boss Is the Problem
Practical strategies for engineering managers dealing with difficult bosses while protecting and supporting their teams.
When Strategy Is Just Hope in a Slide Deck
A blunt look at slide-deck strategy: why roadmaps turn into wishful thinking, the red flags your strategy won’t survive Monday, and what real execution requires.
Stop Worrying About AI and Start Worrying About Your Boss
AI isn't the threat to your job. It's your boss's panic about AI that's reshaping work in ways that screw you over. Here's what's actually happening.
Optimization Brain Rot
A blunt look at “optimization brain rot”: when teams obsess over velocity and dashboards instead of outcomes, why it happens, what it costs, and how to fix it.
The True Cost of Leadership: Snacks and Therapy
A candid look at the real cost of leadership: the hidden emotional and decision load, why your team’s problems become yours, and how to lead sustainably without burning out.
Hiring Without the Theatre
A practical framework for engineering managers on running effective technical interviews that evaluate real skills, not interview performance.
"You're a Manager Now" and Other Lies Your Boss Told You
New engineering manager? The title doesn't equal authority. Learn why instant respect is a myth, how to grieve your coding identity, and why your team isn't an array.
Burnout Is Not a Personal Failure
Burnout is usually treated like a personal weakness, but it is more often an organisational and accounting decision. Learn how workload, incentives, and culture create burnout, and what leaders can change to prevent it.
Delegation: Just Let Go, You Control Freak
Delegation is hard when you are used to being the fixer. Learn how to define outcomes, stop micromanaging, and let your team grow.
Delegating Work Without Micromanaging
How to delegate effectively as an engineering manager without micromanaging or disappearing completely.
Delivering Performance Reviews Without the Corporate Theatre
A practical guide to conducting performance reviews that are honest, useful, and focused on growth instead of bureaucratic box-checking.