Why Politics Appear

Ancient Athens did not solve uncertainty with better communication. They solved it by removing people. Once a year, citizens gathered to vote on exile. Not for crimes. Not for failures. For influence. Some people became too visible, too connected. They were deemed likely to become dangerous later, so they had to go. The mechanism was called ostracism. In essence, it […]

Onboarding Your Engineering Manager

Bringing on a new leader to your organization is always tricky. It starts with hiring. Then comes the real part. Onboarding! I always think bringing in a new leader without context is like starting construction without a blueprint. You’ll get noise and activity, but not stability. Perhaps, a few things are done, but in the wrong order. Walls before foundations. […]

Engineering Manager Interview Preparation

Layoffs seem to be everywhere these days. You scroll through feeds, and it’s another round of cuts, another company restructuring. If you’re a seasoned manager, losing your role can feel like hitting a wall. And finding new jobs is a really uphill battle, especially with all the talk about flattening organizations and cutting down on management layers.I still believe it’s […]

Addressing Technical Debt

Tech debt occurs when we solve a software problem with our limited understanding of the business at the time. We start building a solution to get feedback as early as possible. By the time we deliver the software, we might have accumulated some burden. The debt metaphor comes into play. Instead of spending additional time on business requirements, we prefer […]