stdlib

Find resources to solve your technical leadership challenges

Blog Post

The Golden Age of Modularity

Modular design lets engineers and LLMs change code with minimal impact, turning AI-generated code from a nightmare into a reliable tool.

linkedin.com
Technical debtScaling
Guide

Technology Radar - Guide to the technology landscape

A semi-annual snapshot of tools, techniques, platforms, languages and frameworks, organized into Adopt, Trial, Assess, Hold rings, highlighting AI-driven themes and emerging antipatterns for tech leaders.

thoughtworks.com
Decision-makingInnovationTechnical debt
Blog Post

Fractional CTO: What It Means & How to Become One

A fractional CTO delivers high-level tech strategy to startups at a fraction of the cost, balancing deals, delivery, and domain expertise to scale without a full-time exec.

7ctos.com
Decision-makingCareer developmentScaling
Blog Post

Long-distance leadership: letting go and leaning in

Effective remote leaders win by trusting their teams enough to let go of day-to-day control while staying actively engaged, using clear communication to keep distributed work aligned.

management-issues.com
Remote workCommunication
Guide

Leading a work package

Product managers often become gatekeeper managers, centralizing communication and burning out; the playbook shows how to shift them to analytical roles and let engineers own execution through clear work-package ownership and transparent communication.

leancpto.org
Decision-makingCommunicationMeeting effectiveness
Blog Post

Ten Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer

Negotiating a job offer is a learnable skill; this guide breaks it into ten concrete rules that let any candidate protect information, keep options open, and secure better compensation.

haseebq.com
Career developmentHiring
Blog Post

The Reality of Tech Interviews in 2025

Tech hiring is rebounding for senior engineers, but interview standards have risen sharply, especially in AI roles, making interviews harder and more selective across big tech and startups.

newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
HiringProcess inefficienciesBurnout & morale
Blog Post

The Precise Language Of Good Management

Exact wording in manager conversations prevents misunderstandings, improves feedback, and aligns team priorities, turning vague talk into actionable insight.

staysaasy.com
CommunicationFeedback
Blog Post

Time Management

Effective time management and productivity frameworks let leaders reclaim control, cut endless meetings, and avoid burnout by applying structured techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix, Pomodoro, and GTD.

mikefisher.substack.com
Decision-makingBurnout & morale
Article

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts

Separate upsides from downsides, decide on the upside and treat the downside as a veto, then invest heavily in the strongest upsides to cut through complex business decisions.

longform.asmartbear.com
Decision-making
Blog Post

3 Buckets of Work Time

Three simple buckets for structuring work time: Conversations, Doing the Work, and Thinking About the Work—from someone trying not to burn out again

corymiller.com
Team performanceBurnout & moraleDecision-making
Blog Post

Dont ever page me. How we reduced alert fatigue during our busiest booking period

By redefining on-call priorities and making root-cause fixes a top priority, loveholidays cut alert volume 31% in Jan and 46% in Feb, showing that cultural shifts can dramatically improve reliability and engineer morale.

tech.loveholidays.com
Process inefficienciesBurnout & morale
Blog Post

The Staff Meeting Ritual

Transform routine staff meetings into a short, agenda-driven ritual that builds team cohesion, surfaces issues, and drives action without endless round-robin updates.

allenc.com
Meeting effectiveness
Blog Post

The Software Engineering Identity Crisis

AI coding assistants are turning software engineers from creators into overseers, forcing a career identity shift toward prompt engineering and management.

annievella.com
Career developmentBurnout & morale
Blog Post

Stop Ad-Hoc Leading

A simple, written leadership operating system-just 10 bullet points-gives clarity, improves delegation, scaling, hiring, and change execution, cutting the waste of ad-hoc decision-making.

avivbenyosef.com
Decision-makingProcess inefficienciesCommunication
Blog Post

Universal Truths from the FTL Universe

FTL teaches technical leaders to treat time and energy as finite resources, prioritize trade-offs, adapt on the fly, and learn from inevitable failures.

anjuansimmons.com
Decision-makingTeam performance
Blog Post

Leading From The Front

Leaders who stay on the frontlines gain real-time data and a visceral motivation that sparks team effort, prevents disengagement, and turns crises into focused outcomes.

staysaasy.com
Team performanceBurnout & moraleDecision-making
Blog Post

Three Core Values to Set Up an Organization for Success

A CEO shares three core values-always be ready for change, grant permission to act, and deliver the best you can-to create a culture of accountability, psychological safety, and continuous improvement.

hansdeleenheer.com
Team performanceScaling
Blog Post

The Myth of Objectivity & Strategy

Treating data as fully objective hides the subjective choices in its collection and use, leading to flawed strategy, polarization, and bad decisions.

rogermartin.medium.com
Decision-making
Blog Post

Prioritization Techniques Compared - Part 1

Prioritization decisions often devolve into power struggles; this piece shows why intuition, rules of thumb, and Cost of Delay methods fail without evidence and offers practical adaptations for product leaders.

itamargilad.com
Decision-making
Blog Post

Nailing the basics: How to collaborate cross-functionally

Effective cross-functional collaboration needs intentional dependency mapping, clear specs, and proactive communication; the post offers eight concrete habits to become the person teams want to work with.

operatorshandbook.com
Cross-functional alignmentCommunication
Blog Post

Dont Plan, Speculate

Rigid plans can't tame uncertainty; leaders must replace fixed roadmaps with speculative hypotheses and disciplined experiments to keep teams resilient and adaptable.

linkedin.com
Decision-makingProcess inefficienciesProject delays
Article

Decentralized Architecture: Advice for the Process

Decision-making, not system design, determines success in decentralized architecture; lightweight practices like ADRs and Advice Forums let teams make trusted choices without centralized control.

infoq.com
Decision-makingScaling
Blog Post

I am going to miss coding

Agentic AI lets a coding assistant act on your repository, turning suggestions into real code changes while exposing privacy trade-offs that leaders must manage.

ed-wentworth.medium.com
Process inefficienciesBurnout & moraleInnovation
Blog Post

It Takes Two To Tango

Leaders shape every layer of their org; if middle management underperforms, it's a direct result of the decisions you made and the systems you built.

avivbenyosef.com
CommunicationTeam performance
Blog Post

Working From Home: How to Set Boundaries With Yourself

Set clear workspaces, hours, and communication habits to prevent burnout and maintain focus when remote, using practical tips from career coaches and remote experts.

heragenda.com
Remote workBurnout & moraleTeam performance
Blog Post

Leadership at scale: From chaos to empowerment

Leadership at scale works when you replace command-and-control with empowered teams that own vision, make decisions, and communicate risks transparently.

thoughtworks.com
ScalingTeam performance
Blog Post

The High Cost of Being Low Maintenance

Low-maintenance leaders think competence equals independence, but avoiding help creates hidden burnout, silences communication, and harms team performance.

ashley.dev
CommunicationBurnout & morale
Blog Post

New advice for aspiring managers

In 2025 engineering managers must be hands-on, drive efficiency, justify headcount, and embed AI because resources are scarce and impact is measured.

theengineeringmanager.com
Career developmentBurnout & morale
Blog Post

Thayer Method

Adopt West Point's Thayer Method to turn passive meetings into active problem-solving sessions, using pre-reads and whiteboard collaboration to boost decision-making and engagement.

mikefisher.substack.com
Meeting effectiveness
Blog Post

How to Deal With a Toxic Top-Performer

Turn a brilliant but toxic top performer into reusable company knowledge by extracting and codifying their expertise with a simple 5×3 framework, eliminating dependence on a single person.

foundercoach.medium.com
Conflict resolutionBurnout & moraleFeedback
Blog Post

Careers Aren't Straight Lines. They Squiggle and Stumble Toward Success

Career pivots give leaders diverse experience that sharpens strategy, decision-making and freedom, showing how mentors, grunt work, a learning framework, and a "what if it works?" mindset turn messy moves into senior influence.

jjude.com
Career development
Blog Post

Leading your engineers towards an AI-assisted future

A practical framework for engineering leaders to pilot AI-assisted coding, using aligned autonomy, clear metrics, and support structures so teams can experiment, adopt, and measure impact without falling behind.

blog.thepete.net
Process inefficienciesInnovationTeam performance
Blog Post

Quantifying the Impact of Developer Experience: Amazon's 15.9% Breakthrough

Amazon's Cost to Serve Software metric shows how developer experience improvements cut delivery costs 15.9% YoY, linking tooling upgrades directly to measurable ROI and faster, safer releases.

aws.amazon.com
Team performanceDecision-making
Blog Post

How to delegate while maintaining high standards

Effective delegation requires seeing it as a spectrum, matching oversight to a direct report's task-relevant maturity, and giving clear context so quality stays high without micromanaging.

newsletter.weskao.com
Team performanceScalingFeedback
Blog Post

Here is how I approach starting a new job

Protect existing wins, grab quick optimization wins, then test big bets-all in the first 90 days-to accelerate impact and avoid common onboarding pitfalls.

elenaverna.com
OnboardingCareer development
Blog Post

Being Accountable for Results

Staff engineers are judged on delivering successful projects, not just effort, so they must develop influence and judgment to own outcomes and avoid penalties for failures.

seangoedecke.com
Team performanceFeedback
Blog Post

Naming Software Teams

A clear team name acts as a routing contract that prevents scope creep, reduces misdirected questions, and improves organizational efficiency.

staysaasy.com
CommunicationConflict resolution
Blog Post

Managing By Coincidence

Leaders who rely on ad-hoc, accidental decisions erode trust; being deliberate and consistent with values builds reliable, respected leadership.

jamesjboyer.substack.com
Decision-makingInnovationKnowledge sharing
Book

Book: Decisive

Decisive shows how the WRAP process-Widen options, Reality-test assumptions, Attain distance, Prepare to be wrong-lets leaders make better choices with concrete, actionable tactics.

cate.blog
Decision-making
Blog Post

Leadership != Control: How to Avoid the Authoritarian Spiral

Unchecked power breeds coercion; the piece shows how boards, compliance functions, and low-level checks like ombudspersons keep CEOs accountable and create collaborative, respectful workplaces.

kimmalonescott.medium.com
CommunicationBurnout & moraleDecision-making
Blog Post

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

AI tools are turning thinking into autocomplete, slashing neural engagement and memory, forcing leaders to redesign education and skill development for a generation that outsources cognition.

generativeai.pub
OnboardingKnowledge sharingInnovationCareer development
Blog Post

Thoughts on Motivation and My 40-Year Career

Charity Majors shows how a chaotic, self-made path from poverty to tech leadership reveals that sustainable motivation comes from aligning personal values with work, not fame, and offers concrete reflections for leaders on purpose, burnout, and building lasting impact.

charity.wtf
Burnout & moraleCareer development
Blog Post

Going on the Offensive with Creative Strategy

Analytics' faith in past data blinds businesses to innovation; creatives must go on the offensive by exposing the logical gaps in forecasts and forcing a side-by-side logic test against the status quo.

rogermartin.medium.com
InnovationDecision-making
Blog Post

Leadership Language Lessons from Star Trek

Picard's calm, intent-focused language shows tech leaders how to give teams autonomy, solicit ideas in crises, and reward smart rule-breaking, turning command into collaborative decision-making.

benjiweber.co.uk
CommunicationTeam performanceBurnout & morale
Article

Knowledge flows like heat

Treat knowledge as heat: free knowledge flow makes teams innovate faster, while blocked flow creates delays, hidden costs, and failed offshoring or acquisition projects.

linkedin.com
Knowledge sharingTeam performance
Blog Post

Accountability

Accountability thrives when it's built on clear expectations, adequate resources, decision authority, and psychological safety, turning ownership into a supportive structure instead of fear-based blame.

fffej.substack.com
Team performanceFeedback
Blog Post

Bring Me Problems

Leaders who demand solutions hide problems, eroding transparency and decision quality; encouraging teams to bring problems while offering support boosts collaboration and trust.

codingfearlessly.com
CommunicationDecision-makingTeam performance
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Aboutstdlib

The stdlib collection is a community-curated library of practical, immediately useful, battle-tested resources for technical leadership. Each resource is designed to be immediately applicable to your role. New resources are added based on community feedback and emerging best practices.