Leadership in Tech
Leadership in Tech
#284 – February 08, 2026
a clear framework from casual use to pioneering research
AI fluency leveling
18 minutes by Alex Ewerlöf
Alex introduces a clear framework for AI fluency, from casual use to pioneering research. It shows how knowledge workers can grow skills, leaders can assess teams, and organizations can make smart AI investments. By defining practical levels, it helps cut through hype, focus on real impact, and plan careers or projects around AI effectively.
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7 Slack hacks for engineers and managers
4 minutes by Anton Zaides
Slack consumes about 2 hours daily, much of it wasted on scrolling and tracking channels. Anton suggests that engineering managers should optimize their setup by hiding read channels to reduce noise, grouping conversations by priority, and muting low-priority groups to check weekly. Use reminders instead of marking messages unread. These simple organizational changes can save tens of hours yearly and reduce mental load.
What LEGO can teach us about autonomy and engagement
5 minutes by Pawel Brodzinski
Pawel runs a LEGO experiment in his progressive organizations course to test if autonomy increases engagement. Participants build LEGO sets twice: first with assigned roles and step-by-step instructions controlled by the instructor, then self-organizing with only a picture as reference. Engagement scores consistently jump from an average of 3.51 in the managed build to 4.35 in the autonomous build.
A compass is not a map
2 minutes by Jason Cohen
Popular startup advice and frameworks function more like a compass than a map. While methodologies like Lean Startup and examples from successful companies can point you in certain directions, they don't guarantee success or provide a definitive path forward. For every startup that succeeded using a particular strategy, others failed using the same approach, and vice versa. Jason suggests treating startup advice as inspiration rather than rules, encouraging founders to choose what works for their unique situation instead of following dogma.
One bottleneck at a time
9 minutes by James Stanier
Teams improve fastest by fixing one bottleneck at a time, not spreading effort across many problems. Drawing from Goldratt's Theory of Constraints, James argues that every system has a single constraint limiting throughput, and improving anything else wastes effort. Leaders should identify the biggest bottleneck, subordinate all resources to fixing it, then move to the next constraint.
And the most popular article from the last issue was: