Good leaders absorb risk to optimize learning rate, unblock teams, and break through indecision. A well-functioning team applies this fractally. Risk is not eliminated, it is managed: redistributed or shifted to another area, stakeholder, f…
Separate social, info-sharing, and decision-making meetings. Effective meetings require a process owner, agenda, preread, and curated attendees. In broad strokes, there are three different types of meetings, each with a different primary go…
Define the problem in own terms, take perspectives, validate signal, decide when to decide, and execute. When handed a problem, resist the immediate urge to find a solution. Take the time to understand the problem and define it in your own
Leadership without management: the what, the how, the tools, and how to measure success as a Principal+ engineer. Leadership and management are often conflated, but they are distinct and complementary skills. As a principal engineer, chance…
Aptitude is the ability to perform a type of work. Tenure is the length of time in job. Their correlation degrades rapidly. Tenure is the length of time with an employer or the industry. Aptitude is competence and the ability to perform a c…
Good decision-making is good process, used intentionally. Key lessons and principles to apply in your practice. That does not mean it was a bad decision. All non-trivial decisions are made with imperfect information, and a good decision is