Reflecting on Software Engineering Handbook

One year. May 2024. Back then, we were riding high, celebrating the launch of this Software Engineering Handbook with an amazing trip to Iceland. Five days of glaciers and waterfalls, finally enjoying the fact that we finished up a two year project. We thought we’d cracked it, pouring our hard won experience into a guide for anyone navigating the software […]

Representing the Business

The other day, someone asked me why we even need managers. What do they actually do? I think it’s a fair question, and honestly, people get it wrong a lot. You can throw usual fluff to this question. Managers make sure things get done, keep people on track, and handle logistics. Obviously, that’s part of it. But you know yourself, […]

New Manager Survival Guide

Alright, this is gonna be a long one. And not just a one-time thing. I’ll keep updating it as I write more about leadership. I’ll try to link everything I’ve written before. This one’s the one, just like in the Matrix. All the things I wish I had when I first stepped into managing. There are so many damn questions […]

Chasing Real Respect

You can fake a lot of things in business. Authority. Expertise. Competence. But you can’t fake certain traits, like respect. Think about the managers you’ve had in the past. The good ones. The bad ones. People do respect good managers. Why? You remember how it felt to work with them. I bet it felt safe, challenged, trusted and a few […]

The Invisible Difference

There are plenty of skills you can pick up along the way. Some come from books, some through experience. A lot of it is just trial and error. And some from self reflection. You figure things out such as writing a better email, managing your time, and so forth. If you’ve done even a little research, you’ll hear the usual […]