Unpopular Defaults for High-Performing Tech Organizations

Aviv Ben-Yosef challenges conventional tech leadership wisdom with six unpopular defaults that distinguish high-performing organizations: avoiding nano teams (manager + 1-2 people) that create inefficient overhead, replacing hackathons with structured 'intermissions' for meaningful project work, treating tech debt as part of the regular roadmap rather than separate allocated time, encouraging engineers to understand broader business context through customer shadowing, embracing healthy turnover as a sign of growth and challenge, and breaking over-specialization to prevent bottlenecks. Engineering leaders will learn why following popular playbooks often leads to mediocrity and how these contrarian approaches build resilient, innovative teams.