Leadership in Tech
Leadership in Tech
#326 – July 06, 2026
writing a design doc before coding saves time
How to write an effective software design document
19 minutes by Michael Lynch
Writing a design doc before coding saves time by forcing clear thinking and helping teams coordinate. It should focus on high-stakes decisions where getting things wrong is costly, not minor choices that are easy to fix later. Key sections include goals, background, diagrams, security, and open issues. The right length depends on project complexity, team size, and risk.
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The social physics of conversation
10 minutes by Andi Roberts
Research from MIT found that how groups communicate matters more than what they say. Tracking tone, turn-taking, and who speaks to whom predicted team performance better than intelligence or talent combined. Groups where conversation flows freely between all members consistently outperform those where exchanges funnel through one central person.
How to ask for help from people who don't know you
5 minutes by Pradyu Prasad
Asking for help is a skill anyone can learn. The key is to think from the other person's perspective. Make yourself worth helping by showing real proof of your work, keep your context brief, and make your request small and specific. Also make it easy for them to say no, since willing help builds lasting relationships while forced help destroys them.
The four pillars of engineering management
9 minutes by James Samuel
Engineering managers exist because growing organizations need coordination, alignment, and direction that flat structures cannot sustain. The role varies by company and context, but the core job stays the same: make the team effective. This breaks down into four areas — leading people, guiding technical decisions, shaping product thinking, and driving delivery. Success means understanding what blocks the team and removing those obstacles.
How Meta sets up super IC teams
5 minutes by Yue Zhao
Small, high-powered teams of experienced individual contributors are gaining popularity at companies trying to launch new products or transform operations. These "super IC teams" work best with four things in place: an executive sponsor with broad influence, full team dedication with no split responsibilities, a sharp focus on a real customer problem, and a handoff plan before scaling becomes urgent. Without these conditions, teams waste time on politics and lose momentum.
And the most popular article from the last issue was: