🦇 Poor Decisions, Empowerment, Krakens, RTO, Developer Flow, Pair Planning, DevEx, Burnout vs "Just Ship It": TMW #453

Hello again, welcome to the week!

A huge thank you to everyone who attended last weeks Deep Dives mini-conference - we had great discussions with experts like Carol Palombini, Michelle McDaid and Robbie Clutton on topics around the importance of building Emotional Intelligence as a technology leader. All the recordings will be up in Campus this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

You may have spotted my collaboration with Gregor Ojstersek on his newsletter this week, where we worked out a plan for improving your coaching and mentoring skills as an engineering leader, and why it's a crucial part of how you lead teams. I'm super-happy with the result, and I'd love you to take a look:

Engineering Leader’s Guide: How to Become a Great Coach and Mentor

Being a great coach and mentor is crucial. Learn how to become one the RIGHT way!

Engineering LeadershipGregor Ojstersek

Did you know? CTO Craft works with a large group of CTO coaches who help leaders at all experience levels build skills and confidence. We offer a free match-making service to help leaders meet the right coach, so if you're interested in accelerating your career quickly, or are struggling with a particular area, drop me a line and I'll get you set up.

CTO Coaching & Mentoring with Experienced Technology Leaders | CTO Craft

Build on your successes as a technology leader with powerful 1:1 support from an experienced CTO Coach, learning new tools and validating your leadership decisions and strategies

CTO Craft

That's it, on with the links! See you next Monday

Andy @ CTO Craft

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Reads of the Week

Six Reasons Why Managers Make Poor Decisions

This is a long one! You may wish to go get a cup of coffee before reading. Better yet, bring the whole coffee pot! Recently, a friend and…

BloggerKallokain

Engineering velocity on steroids

What a 10x team looks like

Manager.devAnton Zaides

Leadership, Strategy & Business

How Big Is Your Kraken?

“Let’s build a work-around!”

Maarten’s NewsletterMaarten Dalmijn

You Can’t Just Flip the Switch on Empowerment

Most leaders try to flip from directive to empowered overnight. Here’s why it fails - and the deliberate path through coaching that works.

the Decision StackMartin Eriksson

How I provide technical clarity to non-technical leaders

My mission as a staff engineer is to provide technical clarity to the organization. Of course, I do other stuff too. I run projects, I ship code, I review PRs…

On (Workplace) Politics

Engineering isn’t a meritocracy - it’s political. Learn how to navigate organizational dynamics, build influence, and ensure your technical ideas get heard and implemented.

Leadership GardenCsaba Okrona

Culture, People & Teams

The Engineering Manager Interview | Gergely Nemeth

Why do experienced managers struggle to answer simple questions about their work? What I learned from hundreds of interviews about self-reflection.

Gergely Nemeth

The RTO is gonna huRTO your business

If you think this is a bad joke, wait until you see what the reality looks like! Another great discussion from the Sudo Make Me a CTO Community

Sudo Make Me a CTOSergio Visinoni

5 Strategic Things Every Manager Should Do After a Reorganization

Middle managers often get overlooked during reorganizations, receiving information haphazardly while scrambling to understand what changes mean for their teams rather than positioning themselves for success. This guide provides five strategic steps that managers can take when they suddenly find themselves reporting to a new boss after a reorg, from understanding their new leader’s style to building relationships with new peer groups.

Allison McMillan/Tavlin Consulting

Developer Flow

Learn the science behind developer flow states and implement practical strategies to increase your engineering team’s focus, productivity, and satisfaction.

Leadership GardenCsaba Okrona

Technology, Operations & Delivery

The Hidden Architecture of Engineering

Practical Lessons in Organizational Design

It Depends: Lessons in Technology LeadershipKevin Goldsmith

Developer Experience, the Technology Leader’s Perspective

As software is still eating the world and the scope of digital development seems forever expanding, the developer experience (DevEx) is one of the tools that a tech leader cannot ignore when taking the operations to the next level. As always, there are no silver bullets, but DevEx is definitely one good tool to have in the toolbox.

Elisa LogoJussi Hacklin

Pair Planning = Enthusiastic AI Development and Team Happiness

Your AI agent agrees with everything you say, always answers when you call, and that’s causing problems.

acmConsultingAlex McFadyen

The Feasibility Fallacy: Why Teams Still Trip Over Technical Feasibility | ProdPad

The Feasibility Fallacy: how teams skip technical feasibility checks, what it costs them, and how to build lightweight habits that prevent it.

ProdPadJanna Bastow

Stress, Wellbeing & Growth

Burnout in Tech: Why “Just Ship It” Is Bad Engineering Culture

The obsession with speed and output is eroding quality, morale, and the future of sustainable software development.

MediumGulsaba Fiha

Ness Letters: Reclaiming Ignorance

The Ness Letters are a weekly newsletter by Ness Labs, exploring how we can think better, work smarter, and live happier.

Ness Labs

(More) Icebreakers for meetings and workshops that don’t suck (no really)

Last week, I ran a workshop at Agile Cambridge, building on top of my popular blog post Quick icebreakers for online meetings (that don’t suck). The workshop examined why we use icebreakers, what a good and bad icebreaker looks like and how to select the right ones for specific scenarios. This po

Emily WebberEmily Webber

How I Put Myself Back Together After Burnout

The day I finally broke, nothing dramatic happened. I think that was the scary part. One moment I was answering client emails, the next I…

MediumIntrovert Not Out

That’s it!

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Have an amazing week!

Andy