Leadership
19 articles 路 all categories
January 2026
Small projects, clear scope
Minutes of planning save you days of programming. It is shocking how little planning it takes to make a big difference.
November 2025
How to lead a project
you were asked to lead or own a project. Now what? Here are a few practical steps to help you succeed.
September 2025
Leadership lessons from growing 3x in 1 year
So this talk is my attempt to step back and write down some of the things I've learned. Hope you find something to apply in your team.
July 2025
What makes a senior engineer
The base expectation for engineers is that you don't just build whatever you're asked.
February 2024
5 tips for effective standups
Talk about today, not yesterday
Onboarding to a new team
People are starting to cheat in interviews using ChatGPT. It's obvious, doesn't work, and wouldn't even be cheating if you did it right!
December 2023
Keeping a high engineering culture, tips from the field
I asked engineers how they keep a high quality culture. These are the takeaways
November 2023
Let juniors speak first
Want an engaged engineering team? Let juniors speak first.
How to go from Senior to Lead
Transitioning from Senior to Lead Engineer isn't just about technical prowess, but strategic thinking, soft skills, and going beyond your role. And remember, strong individual contributions matter!
September 2023
Move the rock
it's about noticing the rocks that could trip others and taking the initiative to move them
July 2023
The Wally Reflector
Unleash the power of 'The Wally Reflector' to manage the influx of 'quick requests' and empower your team.
What I learned from Team Topologies
You can't escape Conway's Law. Might as well use it for good.
March 2023
Coding is the easy part
Behind the scenes of a vendor migration project. What senior+ engineers do so you can focus on the code.
November 2022
Scaling teams is a technical challenge
A founder friend asked me about growing pains on his team. How do you avoid stepping on each other's toes?
What I learned from Staff Engineer by Will Larson
Staff Engineer was one of the more impactful books I've read in recent months. Went through the audiobook soon after becoming tech lead so the timing was perfect.
On becoming tech lead
A few weeks ago I made tech lead, a type of staff engineer. Here are my thoughts on what that means, how it happened, and why you'd want such a thing.
July 2022
Nobody is coming to save you
How do you react when you don't like The Process at work? Most programmers complain on social media, make a wry joke, and ... suffer. Not great
October 2021
What's more productive, a team or a talented soloist?
Engineers *hate it* when you say it doesn't matter how good they are because a team will outcode them any day. But it's true, you can't build something big on your own.
July 2021
How to own projects like a senior engineer
The best skill you can learn is ownership. The second best is to let go.