Don't Team for the Plan
Leadership builds a strategy, then squints at the roster. "You're adaptable, right?" That's how heal-specced paladins end up tanking. And why AI won't save a misaligned team.
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We Shipped a Fix for the Wrong Bug
Nobody ever asked for a tool that writes their code. Engineers filed a thousand tickets about bad requirements, unclear direction, and endless meetings. We closed them all as WONTFIX and shipped an AI that codes instead.
The Goose Is on the Team
You’re not falling behind on features. You’re starving the goose. P/PC — productivity vs. capability — explains every engineering org failure mode in one brutal parable.
Too Good to Move: The Competence Trap Nobody Warns You About
Being too good at your job might be exactly what’s holding you back. Not a humble brag — an actual trap. The competence loop, the award-winning horse, and why irreplaceable ≠ promotable.
Part 2: The Evolution of Engineering Governments
Engineering teams don’t stay politically stable. Startups begin in anarchic chaos, evolve into technocratic systems, and often end in bureaucratic process empires. Like civilizations, engineering organizations drift over time—and rarely in the direction people expect.
🧠 Panic Loops: Engineering, Anxiety, and Learning to Breathe Again
Panic attacks have followed me since childhood. My most recent one? Triggered by meaningless work and lack of leadership. This is how engineering fuels anxiety—and how I’ve learned to manage the loops when they hit.
Part 1: If Engineering Teams Were Governments
Engineering teams are miniature political systems. Decisions, ownership, and authority mirror the structures of real governments. What would engineering look like under communism, socialism, democracy, or fascism? The parallels are surprisingly accurate—and revealing.