Exploring the tension between engineering perfectionism and pragmatic delivery. Discover why striving for the perfect solution often prevents us from shipping valuable improvements and how to find the balance.
How I stopped worrying and learned to love the easy fix
On the balance between perfect solutions and pragmatic fixes in software engineering
‘My brain feels like it’s been punched’: the intolerable rise of perfectionism
The pursuit of perfection, taken to extremes, can lead to OCD and depression – and the number of students reporting the problem has jumped by 33% since 1989
It’s Never Going to Be Perfect, So Just Get It Done (Published 2019)
Voltaire was right.
Good engineers are right, a lot
It's an iffy Amazon leadership principle but a great engineering metric
Grit your teeth and ship it
Being good at building and being good at shipping are two separate skills. In the short term, they’re actually countervailing: if you have a gift for building…
On technological optimism and technological pragmatism
"There are no guarantees that things are going to turn out very well for anyone.”
Explorable - Think Outside The Box - Research, Experiments, Psychology, Self-Help
"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default." - J.K. Rowling
Kind Engineering: How To Engineer Kindness
How do you avoid becoming a Brilliant Jerk? Read this article to learn practical tips on communication, honesty and psychological safety.
Bridges & scruples
For your own sanity, you have to remember that not all problems can be solved. Not all problems can be solved, but all problems can be illuminated. —Ursula Franklin
Don't Feed the Thought Leaders
In this article, the author shares their experience as an engineering manager and the challenges they faced when trying to reach alignment and prev...
How to create software quality.
I’ve been reading Steven Sinofsky’s Hardcore Software, and particularly enjoyed this quote from a memo discussed in the Zero Defects chapter: You can improve the quality of your code, and if you do, the rewards for yourself and for Microsoft will be immense. The hardest part is to decide that you want to write perfect code. If I wrote that in an internal memo, I imagine the engineering team would mutiny, but software quality is certainly an interesting topic where I continue to refine my thinking. There are so many software quality playbooks out there, and I increasingly believe that all these playbooks work in their intended context, but are often misapplied.
On Taste, Effort & Curiosity - again
When AI collapses how long it takes to ship, what’s left is judgment, experimentation, and knowing what not to build.
Work Smarter: The Cocktail of Simplicity, Manageable Adversity, and Muntzing
Sometimes deliberate roadblocks can be a good thing to get more efficient and effective products and workflow. Here's how.
How to not screw up your product strategy | Jade Rubick - Engineering Leadership
An overview of common mistakes people make while developing a product strategy, tips for creating a successful strategy, and how to communicate and execute on a product strategy.
