Clarity Is the Job - by Gert Lõhmus - The Velocity Curve

Clarity is not a one-off memo; it is the daily job of anyone who leads engineers. When a new leader takes over a capable team, hidden uncertainty about priorities, decision authority, and trade-offs quickly surfaces as heavy, stalled standups and circular discussions. The article shows that the real problem is not talent but the lack of a shared, visible intent that tells people what matters now and how success will be measured.

The piece draws a line between managers and directors. Managers translate high-level goals into day-to-day actions, framing work so engineers know what to focus on and how they will be judged. Directors, meanwhile, shape coherence across teams, surface strategic trade-offs, and prevent local optimizations from colliding globally. When either level fails to provide that clarity, teams waste energy guessing, decisions stall, and psychological safety erodes.

Because clarity decays, leaders must repeat and refine it as people join and contexts shift. The article argues that clear, explicit trade-offs - for example, "we prioritize speed this quarter and accept reversible risk on non-critical paths" - give engineers agency and reduce anxiety. Repeating the intent stabilizes teams, aligns decisions even when leaders are absent, and ultimately lets smart people move forward together without fear.