Stories about the humans who build software
In our 101st episode, we kick off a new era of episode titles as your best engineer becomes the interim manager of their own team — delegation, one-on-ones, the three-year rule, a visit from Chili Palmer, the Cadillac of minivans salesman himself, and the only question that matters: do you actually want this job? Down… more
I’ve used Claude quite a bit for both the upcoming new book and the next edition of Managing Humans. I wrote the entire book, but, as I’ve done for years, I’ve used the robots for editing, research, and data wrangling. When Anthropic announced they were going to do “text and image” watermarking, my eyebrow was… more
Remember Manager Readmes? The idea was that a manager would take the time to write up their leadership style, what they valued, and their principles. A fad that started in 2017, hit its peak in 2018, and then faded.1 I wrote one in March 2018 and enjoyed the process, but while I published mine, I… more
If everything is going to plan and your operating system is in dark mode, then randsinrepose.com is now dark for you. If you are a light mode person, you can click on the Moon in the upper right of the navigation and experience dark mode stylings. Click again to return. Why now? Well, I was… more
Appreciating typography is a study in paradox. The primary goal of well-designed typography is to help you read the words, not appreciate how the words are composed of letters and how each of those individual letters has been designed to convey a small bit of meaning. If you see the typography rather than read the… more
The final measure of any financial negotiation is the feeling of whether or not you got a “deal”. That prior sentence… makes no sense. I wrote “measure,” and then six words later I wrote “feeling”. A feeling is never a measure, but yet, when you hand over your hard-earned money to buy a thing, you’ll… more
Why do I write? I write because I like the mental state created by writing. It calms and quiets me, but that is not why I write. Why do I write? I write because I am curious and like to understand the world. Writing forces me to understand a thing, a person, a situation. I… more
One hundred episodes. For this occasion, years in the coming, Lyle and I talk about the thing itself — the nuts and bolts of the podcast, including how the robots now do an alarming amount of the work, what a hundred episodes taught us, and why we use the “The One About…” naming convention. 🎁:… more
In our 99th episode, Rands is back on the Pro Leisure Circuit — infinite time, a suspicious amount of Arc Raiders, and no wind in the sails — and we wrestle with what actually motivates a person when the engine of work goes quiet. The usual suspects: Arc Raiders, absorbing ten-hour days like it’s a… more
Review season. You start your career thinking the review is the most important milestone of the year, but as an individual, you only see part of the picture. Everyone cares about the compensation (base salary, bonus, and stock). That’s the data they care about, but where did this pile of compensation come from? Who decided… more