What are engineers for?I was once out with a team of software engineers who were talking about a challenging project, and one of them said, “It’s our job to say…Mar 5Mar 5
Plan for the bestOne Friday night recently, some friends of mine dropped off their daughter for an evening play date with three other girls. Their daughter…Jun 12, 2023Jun 12, 2023
Leaky bucket, overflowing bucketI’ve used this analogy over the years with multiple people, both team members reporting to me as well as peers and friends. Since others…Jun 22, 2022Jun 22, 2022
Write your own promoAt many tech companies, there is a formal process for requesting a promotion. At Atlassian, the biggest part of this process is a…May 3, 2022May 3, 2022
Modesty is a luxuryAbout a year ago, a colleague reached out to me for some advice. He was a peer of mine and was receiving feedback from his manager that he…Feb 11, 2021Feb 11, 2021
On reducing tensionHave you read The Zax, by Dr. Seuss? It’s a powerful story. Ultimately it’s about the dangers of stubbornness and pride. In the story, the…Jan 31, 2021Jan 31, 2021
Published inThe StartupFocus Time Is Not Petty CashBudgets are useful when you have a limited amount of something and discipline is required to use it appropriately given your needs and…Jun 29, 2020Jun 29, 2020
What is a spike?Many software teams use the term “spike” or “research spike” to refer to a particular type of task where the primary work involved is some…Jan 23, 2020Jan 23, 2020
