Before you fire all your glue people because of AI

Before you fire all your glue people because of AI
18 minutes by John Cutler

John points out that AI can help teams complete useful tasks faster, such as writing updates or organizing information, but it cannot fully replace “glue people” who connect teams and keep organizations working smoothly. They provide judgment, trust, communication, and coordination that AI cannot easily copy.

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Why most organizations aren't funding innovation
15 minutes by Phil McKinney

Many organizations claim to invest in innovation, but unclear definitions of research and development make those investments difficult to evaluate. Different accounting, tax, and policy frameworks classify R&D differently, hiding whether companies are creating new knowledge or simply improving existing products. Phil proposes a clearer definition: research creates genuinely new knowledge, while development turns that knowledge into capabilities competitors cannot easily copy. This distinction helps organizations better assess true innovation investment.

You need AI that reduces maintenance costs
6 minutes by James Shore

AI coding tools that double your output can actually hurt you long term. Every line of code needs ongoing maintenance, and more code means more maintenance forever. If your AI doubles code output but also makes that code harder to maintain, your productivity gains vanish within months. You need AI that cuts maintenance costs in proportion to the extra code it produces, or you end up worse off than before.

Can one bad apple ruin your team?
7 minutes by Bruce Daisley

Bruce explores how one negative person can affect an entire team. Using workplace examples and psychological research, he explains how bad moods and behaviours spread through groups and reduce performance. He also highlights the power of “good apples” — calm, positive people who improve teamwork and morale. Bruce argues that team culture depends not only on systems and talent, but also on the emotional influence individuals have on others.

Engineering managers should read team diffs
5 minutes by Dunya Kirkali

Dashboards and status reports show you where a team stands, but not where it's headed. Small shifts in behavior, like quieter planning meetings or thinner code reviews, often signal problems before any metric turns red. Noticing these changes early means separating observations from conclusions, then asking curious questions instead of jumping to judgments. The goal is to understand a team's direction, not just its current state.

And the most popular article from the last issue was:

• When everyone has AI and the company still learns nothing