Principles

Principles
8 minutes by Nabeel S. Qureshi

Nabeel gives hard-won life lessons about how to live and work well. The core ideas are simple: move fast, take more risks, focus on creating rather than consuming, and find people who energize you. Small things compound over time, so work on what matters every day, put yourself out there, and stop waiting for permission.

Still writing tests manually? Meticulous AI is here
sponsored by Meticulous

Most teams are forced to make the tradeoff between better coverage and more maintenance effort. But top engineering teams like Notion, Dropbox, Wealthsimple and LaunchDarkly have discovered a new testing paradigm. Built by ex-Palantir engineers, Meticulous creates and maintains E2E UI tests that covers every edge case of your web app - without any developer effort, making it the only tool to improve both product quality and dev velocity.

Should managers become hands-on again?
3 minutes by João Alves

AI is changing how software is built, and leaders cannot ignore it. CTOs and CEOs must test AI tools themselves to understand what is real beyond the hype. Even small productivity gains can have big impact at scale. By building both outside and inside their companies, leaders can see what’s possible and guide change. João claims that in the AI era, hands-on leadership may be a strategic necessity.

On screwing up
7 minutes by Sean Goedecke

Mistakes at work are inevitable, and how you handle them matters more than the mistake itself. Sean's advice is to stay calm, avoid making excuses or over-apologizing, and tell your manager right away before you have a fix. Hiding problems only makes things worse. Accept that repeated mistakes can affect how others see your work, but some risk-taking is necessary to get things done.

Why hiring from a big tech company often fails
3 minutes by Dave Bailey

Managers and executives from big companies often fail at startups because success at scale needs a different skill set than building from scratch. Some people are builders who create systems, while others are operators who run them. Hiring the wrong type leads to either stagnation or chaos. To tell them apart in interviews, ask what they personally built from scratch and probe for specifics.

The mighty metaphor
14 minutes by Gregor Hohpe

Metaphors help architects explain complex technical ideas to business leaders. Instead of using technical jargon, good metaphors translate trade-offs and decisions into familiar terms, like money, inventory, or everyday objects. Strong metaphors encourage shared thinking and real understanding, not just agreement.

And the most popular article from the last issue was:

• The shift to managing managers