stdlib

Find resources to solve your technical leadership challenges

Blog Post

Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (113 Models Explained)

Comprehensive guide to nearly 100 mental models for systematic thinking and strategic decision-making

fs.blog
Decision-making
Blog Post

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts

Framework for cutting through decision paralysis by separating upsides from downsides and focusing on strengths

blog.asmartbear.com
Decision-making
Article

Square Defangs Difficult Decisions with this System — Here’s How

Gokul Rajaram's SPADE framework for systematic high-stakes decision-making with clear ownership and team alignment

firstround.com
Decision-making
Blog Post

The maze is in the mouse

Philosophical exploration of how our internal mental models and assumptions shape the problems we think we're solving

medium.com
Decision-makingTeam performance
Guide

Engineers Shouldn’t Write ETL: A Guide to Building a High Functioning Data Science Department

Jeff Magnusson's guide advocating for hybrid Thinker-Doer roles and autonomous data science teams

multithreaded.stitchfix.com
Process inefficienciesInnovationCross-functional alignment
Blog Post

Building The Analytics Team At Wish

Wish's approach to scaling analytics infrastructure and building a data-driven culture at hypergrowth

medium.com
ScalingCross-functional alignmentTeam performance
Article

Building a data team at a mid-stage startup: a short story

Erik Bernhardsson's narrative on transforming a fragmented data team into a strategic organizational powerhouse

erikbern.com
ScalingCross-functional alignmentProcess inefficiencies
Blog Post

What It Really Means to be a Manager, Director, or VP

Career development guide explaining the distinct responsibilities and expectations at each leadership level

kellblog.com
Career development
Blog Post

Your CTO Should Actually Be Technical

Aditya Agarwal argues why CTOs must be deeply technical to lead engineering teams effectively and make quality tradeoffs

blog.southparkcommons.com
Decision-makingTeam performanceInnovation
Article

Advice for new directors

Practical roadmap for engineering leaders transitioning to director roles, focusing on systems thinking and leading through others

rubick.com
Decision-makingScalingCareer development
Blog Post

The 7 roles of a CTO

Oded Blayer breaks down the CTO role into seven distinct responsibilities beyond traditional technical leadership

oded.substack.com
Cross-functional alignmentDecision-makingScalingCareer development
Article

How to Communicate When Trust Is Low (Without Digging Yourself Into A Deeper Hole)

Charity Majors' practical guide for rebuilding trust through intentional communication and strategic language

charity.wtf
CommunicationConflict resolution
Article

How to Disagree

Paul Graham's framework for productive disagreement and constructive dialogue in professional settings

paulgraham.com
CommunicationConflict resolution
Blog Post

Operations and Internal Communication Strategies For Effective CEOs

Video communication platform for organizing and distributing team communications

sametab.com
CommunicationRemote work
Article

Breaking Bad News

Direct and empathetic approach to communicating difficult information as a leader

boz.com
Communication
Article

Nonviolent communication

Marshall Rosenberg's communication approach focusing on empathy and conflict resolution

en.wikipedia.org
CommunicationConflict resolution
Blog Post

Ken Norton’s Discipline of No

Product management framework for prioritizing focus by saying no to low-priority initiatives

blog.mixpanel.com
Decision-making
Article

How To Pitch A Product

Effective product pitching strategy emphasizing live demonstrations over presentations

avc.com
Communication
Article

Tough News: We’ve Made 10 Layoffs. How We Got Here, the Financial Details and How We’re Moving Forward

Buffer's radically transparent approach to communicating layoffs and leadership accountability

open.buffer.com
CommunicationBurnout & morale
Blog Post

Why the status quo is so hard to change in engineering teams

How engineering teams develop learned helplessness and normalize dysfunctional processes

okayhq.com
Burnout & moraleProcess inefficienciesTechnical debt
Article

Nemawashi

Japanese practice of building consensus before formal decisions through informal consultation

en.m.wikipedia.org
CommunicationDecision-making
Article

Four stages of competence

Psychological learning model describing progression from incompetence to mastery

en.wikipedia.org
OnboardingCareer development
Article

Another list of career pathways

Comprehensive collection of public career frameworks and ladders from tech companies

progression.fyi
Career developmentOnboarding
Article

30+ Engineering Career Ladders

Comprehensive compilation of 30+ publicly available engineering career ladders

nidup.io
Career developmentScaling
Article

career-ladders

Open-sourced career ladder framework from Engineer I to Distinguished Engineer

career-ladders.dev
Career developmentOnboarding
Article

Fog Creek Professional Ladder – Joel on Software

Fog Creek's three-dimensional career development framework linking advancement to compensation

joelonsoftware.com
Career development
Framework

progression-framework/frameworks/engineering

Monzo's comprehensive career development framework covering multiple engineering disciplines

github.com
Career developmentOnboarding
Article

Dropbox

Dropbox's comprehensive engineering career framework across multiple disciplines

dropbox.github.io
Career development
Article

CircleCI

CircleCI's engineering competency matrix for tracking skills and career progression

docs.google.com
Career developmentOnboarding
Article

Khan Academy

Khan Academy's engineering career development framework document

docs.google.com
Career developmentFeedback
Article

Gitlab

GitLab's engineering career matrix and progression framework

handbook.gitlab.com
Career development
File

Songkick

Songkick's engineering growth framework document

songkick.com
Career development
Article

Keith Rabois on how to identify great talent

Keith Rabois' methods for identifying and developing high-potential employees

startuparchive.org
HiringCareer development
Article

On Being A Senior Engineer

Defining characteristics and qualities that distinguish senior engineers from juniors

kitchensoap.com
Career developmentCommunicationTeam performance
Blog Post

Engineering levels and progression

Eight-level engineering career framework emphasizing scope of impact and leadership

location.foursquare.com
Career developmentScaling
Article

Things We Learned Creating Technology Career Steps

Spotify's lessons from building a career progression framework for engineers

engineering.atspotify.com
Career developmentCommunication
Blog Post

How to waste your career, one comfortable year at a time

Warning about career stagnation and the dangers of staying too comfortable

apoorvagovind.substack.com
Career development
Article

Thriving on the Technical Leadership Path

Guide for pursuing technical leadership without transitioning to people management

keavy.com
Career developmentDecision-making
Article

You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you

Comic exploring the 'backfire effect' and how people resist contradictory evidence

theoatmeal.com
CommunicationDecision-making
Blog Post

One on One Meeting Format Ideas

Structured 30-minute format for effective weekly one-on-one meetings

marcgg.com
Meeting effectivenessFeedbackCareer development
Article

5 Questions Every Manager Needs to Ask Their Direct Reports

Strategic questions for understanding employee growth, purpose, and potential

hbr.org
Career developmentFeedbackBurnout & morale
Blog Post

130+ One on One Meeting Questions Great Managers Ask

Comprehensive collection of conversation starters for effective one-on-one meetings

getlighthouse.com
Meeting effectivenessFeedbackCareer development
Article

How To Be Someone People Love To Talk To

Communication skills for becoming a great conversationalist and building relationships

bakadesuyo.com
Communication
Blog Post

Mentor vs Advisor vs Coach

Clarifies the key differences between mentoring, advising, and coaching roles

baxterblog.typepad.com
Career developmentKnowledge sharing
Article

What is an Inquiring Leader?

Leadership concept focused on curiosity, questioning, and continuous learning

linkedin.com
CommunicationFeedback
Article

21 Reasons You Should Start Having One on Ones with Your Team

Comprehensive guide to the critical benefits of regular one-on-one meetings

jasonevanish.com
CommunicationFeedbackMeeting effectivenessBurnout & morale
Blog Post

On 1-1s

Guide to effective 1-on-1 meetings focused on listening and relationship building

cate.blog
Meeting effectivenessBurnout & morale
Article

devtomanager.com

Career platform helping developers transition into engineering management

devtomanager.com
Career development
Showing 865-912 of 1110 resources

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.