Early Career
A Guide to Being a Great On-call.
Being a good operator builds a wealth of skills. But there are a few tricky aspects you'll want to think about.
Newsletter
Organizations
Dealing with Negative Internal Politics.
Dealing with negative politics doesn't mean making your enemies wail in terror.
Career Growth
Why Some Careers Thrive and Others Don't—Not Necessarily Skill
Technical or functional skills only partially explain why some employees are more successful than others. There are other aspects of leadership which can impact long term success.
People Managers
Promoting an Employee in Two Days, a Management Story
Don't let process or policy or schedule stop you from doing the right thing. Ignore expectations and think of what you're capable of accomplishing.
Late Career
What Happens If You're Hit By a Bus? A Guide to Succession Planning.
Succession planning isn't just for managers, and it isn't just a red tape process to fill out. It's a core element of career growth for everyone.
People Managers
A Day in the Life of a Senior Manager at Amazon
A representative log of what one day might look like for a Senior Manager at Amazon.
Late Career
Be Skeptical: Challenging the Beliefs Underlying Everything
We blindly trust a lot at our companies. We trust that our metrics are telling us a truthful story. We trust that our processes are giving us the value we need. We trust that our assumptions are true. But we need our leaders to be skeptical of these unexa
People Managers
Removing or creating stress for optimal performance. Eustress vs Distress.
Too much stress or too little stress can cause issues. We'll discuss how to dial that in, and create a high-performance and high retention team.
Late Career
Breadth vs. Depth - Why Breadth is Key for Career Success
There's often a bias towards expertise. Becoming an expert in your area is highly valued. I'd offer the alternative that being broadly experienced is often more important.
People Managers
Unlearning at Scale: 3 Things That Led to My Success, But I Had to Drop on My Path to Director
Skills you learn earlier in your career may help or hinder you later. Learn to recognize when they're hindering you.
People Managers
"Can't Code! Not inclined to Hire?" - Why Engineering Managers Don't Need to be Great Coders
An explanation of why managers do not need to code, and probably shouldn't.
Mid Career
The Ten Commandments of Maintaining Legacy Code
Maintaining legacy code is a major part of software engineering. Learn how to do it well.