/Management

How Do Experienced Engineers Actually Review Code?

- Lizzie Matusov tl;dr: “Code reviews are foundational to modern software development—but how do experienced developers actually read, understand, and evaluate changes? What mental models do they use, and how can we better support those strategies across teams and tools? This week we ask: How do experienced engineers comprehend code during review, and what can leaders do to support more effective, scalable review practices?”

featured in #622

A Bag Of Worries

- James Stanier tl;dr: “My own mental resistance to dealing with these items is often the biggest barrier to getting them done, rather than the actual complexity of the items themselves. Long days with lots of context switching can seriously deplete my mental capacity. In order to better manage my capacity and energy, and also leaning on creative ways to use LLMs, I've been trying a new approach to deal with this problem, which I call "the bag of worries”.”

featured in #621

How Do Experienced Engineers Actually Review Code?

- Lizzie Matusov tl;dr: “Code reviews are foundational to modern software development—but how do experienced developers actually read, understand, and evaluate changes? What mental models do they use, and how can we better support those strategies across teams and tools? This week we ask: How do experienced engineers comprehend code during review, and what can leaders do to support more effective, scalable review practices?”

featured in #621

How To Consistently Ship Integrations Fast

- Bri Cho tl;dr: ** **Fast integration shipping isn’t about rushing code. It’s about the right setup. Most teams get slower over time. Here’s how to avoid that.

featured in #621

Why People Really Quit — And How Great Managers Make Them Want to Stay

- Kim Scott tl;dr: “To help you figure out when you’re being a good partner rather than slipping into micromanagement or absentee management, I’ve developed a simple chart. I hope it will help you better partner with the people who report to you.”

featured in #621

The 5 Most Difficult Employees (And How To Actually Handle Them)

- Claire Lew tl;dr: Claire shares the five most challenging employee archetypes she’s encountered, and the specific strategies that can help you lead them successfully: (1) The Entitled Veteran. (2) The Passive Resister. (3) The Brilliant Aggressor. (4) The Perpetual Victim. (5) The Performance Rollercoaster. 

featured in #621

The 5 Most Difficult Employees (And How To Actually Handle Them)

- Claire Lew tl;dr: Claire shares the five most challenging employee archetypes she’s encountered, and the specific strategies that can help you lead them successfully: (1) The Entitled Veteran. (2) The Passive Resister. (3) The Brilliant Aggressor. (4) The Perpetual Victim. (5) The Performance Rollercoaster. 

featured in #620

Setting Targets For Developer Productivity Metrics

- Abi Noda Laura Tacho tl;dr: “Laura shares a set of principles for effectively setting targets while avoiding common pitfalls. Whether you’re an engineering leader or part of a DevProd or Platform team, this guide should be helpful for identifying metrics to align around.”

featured in #620

The Rise Of Medium Code

- Nick Schrock tl;dr: “We’ll discuss what we’re already seeing with medium code using our domain - data platforms - as an example, including how medium code practitioners work and what characterizes them. Then, we’ll discuss the future of medium code, which we believe will be accelerated - not eliminated - by the rise of AI-native software development.”

featured in #620

What Real Feedback Sounds Like

- Claire Lew tl;dr: Claire shares 7 of the most common situations where feedback often gets delayed, watered down, or avoided entirely. For each, she shares the vague or sugarcoated way it usually gets said, and how to communicate what real, respectful feedback actually sounds like instead.

featured in #620