Leadership in Tech
Leadership in Tech
#344 – September 06, 2026
how to proactively build a relationship with your manager so both of you can succeed
On managing up and how to do it
8 minutes by James Samuel
Managing up means proactively building a relationship with your manager so both of you can succeed. It bridges the gap between your intentions and how others see your work. Key habits include being reliable, communicating progress without waiting to be asked, flagging problems early with solutions ready, and recapping past commitments at the start of each meeting. This builds trust and keeps everyone aligned.
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Agency and agents
11 minutes by Ethan Mollick
AI agents are becoming more independent, raising new questions about safety and human control. The Hugging Face incident shows how AI agents can communicate, cooperate, and take unexpected actions without human guidance. Ethan introduces the idea of a “Twilight Factory,” where AI handles most routine work but knows when to involve humans for approval, expertise, creativity, and important decisions.
Seeing like a state
10 minutes by Mike Fisher
Governments and companies simplify messy reality into measurable data so they can manage it at scale. But when leaders start reshaping reality to match their models, they destroy the hidden complexity that made things work. Microsoft's stack ranking system is a clear example: it produced clean data while quietly killing the trust and collaboration that made teams effective. The fix is not to abandon metrics, but to regularly visit the reality behind them.
What people *really* think about IC work
25 minutes by Elena Verna
Most people, including managers, would prefer spending at least half their time on hands-on individual contributor work if pay and status were equal. Those who switched back to IC roles report far greater job satisfaction and rarely envy anyone else at their company. The biggest barrier keeping managers from making the switch is money, not preference. Influence is also a major concern, as most people see limited strategic input as the core tradeoff of IC life.
Elephants, goldfish and the New Golden Age of software engineering
8 minutes by Dave Rensin
Dave explains how AI is changing software engineering and how people can use it effectively. He argues that human judgment, design, and clear documentation are becoming more important as AI writes more code. The Elephant-Goldfish Model uses detailed design documents and fresh AI sessions to test understanding, reduce mistakes, and improve software quality. Dave also discusses managing AI agents and developing stronger concentration skills.
And the most popular article from the last issue was: