In staff augmentation, the client is primarily buying capacity. In consulting, the client is primarily buying an outcome, judgment, or expertise. A useful test is: If the client already knew exactly what needed to be done and how to do it, would they still need you? If yes, because they simply need another competent person to execute the work, that is usually staff augmentation. If no, because a…
Framework Example line you could say Link Feel Felt Found I understand how you feel about the price. Others felt the same at first. They found that the long term savings more than covered the initial cost. www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/feel-felt… Recognize Reframe Redirect (3 R’s of rumination) I recognize that your mind keeps going back to that mistake. Let’s reframe it as one…
Pretending politics doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away — it just means decisions happen without you, and the ideas that live inside quiet people lose to the voices of those who do show up. Stop Avoiding Politics
Why I Still Do My Best Work Even When the System Doesn’t Deserve It I’ve been through ten jobs in nearly three decades. I’ve survived layoffs, restructures, reorgs. I’ve seen people laid off after twenty-five years at the same company—just another line item in a spreadsheet. And yet, every time I change roles, I leave clean documentation. I leave things better than I found them. I leave with my…
By nature, I’m blunt. I’m irreverent. I speak directly, I don’t perform deference, and I usually say what others are only thinking. I like friction. I like clarity. I don’t mind a little disruption, not because I want attention, but because it sharpens the work. That’s how I’m wired. But when I depend on other people to give me money in exchange for labor, I don’t always get to show up that way.…
I don’t have to know all the answers and I don’t have to pretend that I do. The single best thing I ever learned was the confidence to say, ‘I don’t know.’” The Three Simple Words That Could Elevate Your Career
Twice in the past two years, I found myself looking for a new role a little sooner than expected. In both cases, I saw the misalignment coming and had already begun preparing. I leaned on what I’ve come to think of as Plan A. I reached out to people who knew my work, focused on opportunities that matched how I think and lead, and stayed close to the kind of problems I’m built to solve. Both times,…
Lately I’ve been thinking about how everything seemed to fall into place. Not just work, but everything else too. Finances, relationships, freedom, the ability to absorb a hit without everything falling apart. It didn’t happen all at once, but it sort of felt like it did. If I look back, I can see the build-up. In 2015 I wanted to work in Big Tech after my son graduated. By 2017 that shifted. I…
There’s a cost to doing it your way. Not the curated, made-for-LinkedIn version. The actual cost. The missed opportunities. The slower path. The fatigue. Some people get ahead because they play the game early. They figure out what leaders want to hear and say it. They learn how to be useful to power before they learn how to be right. They network, echo, align. They succeed faster, not always…
In large-scale initiatives, clarity is often the first casualty of momentum. Architecture evolves quickly, stakeholder needs shift midstream, and team roles remain loosely defined while execution is already underway. In that kind of environment, even strong contributors can find themselves reacting instead of leading. The default tendency in ambiguous settings is to press harder. To defend ideas…
On large projects, it’s not the wind that throws you off course. It’s the lack of an anchor. I joined a complex engagement already in motion. The pace was fast. The roles were fluid. Architecture discussions were happening before alignment had fully formed. I wasn’t leading the project, and that was the right call. But I had a stream of work to own, and in hindsight, I didn’t drop anchor in it. I…
I do my best work when I shape the vision. When I define the architecture, set the direction, and carry it through, everything feels aligned. I know how to build momentum. I know how to create clarity when things are still fuzzy. That’s the space where I’m most effective. But not every project gives you that space. Lately, I’ve been in roles where someone else owns the vision. I’m not the one…
You’re in a good place. Your job is stable. You’re paid well, respected, and building the future you want. But something nags at you when you think about the years ahead. You picture the same role, modest raises, familiar work. It’s not failure. It’s not boredom. It just feels…still. And that stillness brings back an old memory, when your skills were growing faster than your salary, and you waited…
Lately I’ve been thinking about where this is all going. Not in a crisis kind of way. Things are good. I like my work. I’m paid well. I’m not scrambling, and I’m not burned out. But when I look a few years down the line, I keep seeing the same picture—same role, similar responsibilities, small raises each year. It’s stable. It’s predictable. It should feel good. And it mostly does. But then this…
Bullet points can hinder effective communication when overused or misapplied. They often present isolated facts without clarifying the relationships between them, leaving readers to infer connections that may not be evident. This approach can create the illusion of a coherent argument while actually obscuring the underlying logic. For complex ideas, structured prose that explicitly articulates the…
Luck isn’t just chance; it’s the result of doing work you’re passionate about and telling others about it. The more you create and share, the more opportunities have a way of finding you. To increase your luck, expand both your efforts and your visibility How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area
The early project meeting is more than a technical discovery. It is the real start of the work, when stakeholders begin deciding whether to place trust in the team leading the effort. That first conversation sets the tone for everything that follows. The real goal is to make the future feel doable, low-risk, and worth backing. Confidence matters more than a strong solution. Every stakeholder moves…
Career liquidity is about being able to move between roles or opportunities without starting from scratch each time. It’s not something most people think about until they need it, but when things change - whether by choice or not - it can make all the difference. It’s the result of doing solid work, building trust, and making sure people know what you’re good at, even if you’re not constantly…
Scoping at the start of a project is messy. The clock is ticking, the right people aren’t always in the room, and the deliverables are more sketch than blueprint. Still, an estimate is expected because someone has to decide whether to move forward. Breaking the work into tasks and hours at this point creates the illusion of precision. What proves more useful is mapping the terrain: which…
One of the most underrated leadership skills is knowing how to sequence ideas. It’s easy to get excited about a full-scale implementation that checks every box - scalable, elegant, future-ready. But just because something is technically right doesn’t mean it’s right now. Readiness isn’t binary; it’s contextual. Teams may align with the vision but not yet have the capacity, confidence, headspace or…
To the technical leader, the thoughtful architect, the person in the room who cares about both clarity and correctness. There may come a point in your career when the problem isn’t the quality of your ideas, but the way they’re received. You’ll find yourself presenting the right tradeoffs, raising real risks, advocating for sound architecture and still creating tension, silence, or even pushback.…
When it comes to code reviews, it’s a common phenomenon that there is much focus and long-winded discussions around mundane aspects like code formatting and style, whereas important aspects (does the code change do what it is supposed to do, is it performant, is it backwards-compatible for existing clients, and many others) tend to get less attention. The Code Review Pyramid
How to pass any first-round interview
Leveling Up in Job Interviews for Software Engineers
Be clear what you’re trying to say before you write it. Don’t get attached to words you have written; be prepared to scrap what you wrote while you were thrashing around trying to work out what you wanted to say, even if its a whole paper. Common Bugs in Writing HN Discussion