#12 | Sunday reads for EMs
My favourite reads of the week to make your Sunday a little more inspiring.
👋 Hey, it’s Stephane. This is a new series in which every Sunday I share with you my favourite reads of the week. To accelerate your growth see: 50 Notion Templates | The EM’s Field Guide | CodeCrafters | Get Hired as an EM | 1:1 Coaching
Paid subscribers get 50 Notion Templates, The EM’s Field Guide, and access to the complete archive. Subscribe now.
You Know What To Do
tl;dr: Smart people with business context almost always know the right decision but avoid making it because they hate confrontation. The path that makes you most uncomfortable is usually the correct one. Stop waiting for more data to confirm what you already know and start making the hard calls your team needs you to make.
New advice for aspiring managers
tl;dr: Engineering management in 2025 is radically different from the ZIRP era. Today's managers must stay hands-on, obsess over efficiency metrics, treat AI adoption as table stakes, and get comfortable with aggressive performance management.
Small Bets
tl;dr: Most features fail (85% are neutral or harmful), so stop betting big on "revolutionary" ideas. Netflix optimizes thumbnails, Amazon tests button colors.. these tiny experiments compound into massive wins. The teams that learn fastest through small, reversible bets consistently outperform those swinging for grand slams.
Communication is The Job
tl;dr: You're always communicating whether you realize it or not, and in the absence of clear communication, people will find signals in noise. Layer your messages for different engagement levels, communicate defensively to prevent misinterpretation, and remember you're not just talking to your immediate audience but everyone they'll repeat it to.
The Ultimate Sprint Retro: My 10 Years of Software Engineering
tl;dr: Career progression isn't linear. This engineer's decade shows how growth happens in distinct phases from coding basics to leadership to management. The universal lessons are solid: find mentors, solve problems that annoy your coworkers, and remember that "good enough" beats overengineered solutions 90% of the time.
Most popular from last Sunday
Common problems managing senior engineers
What did you read recently that you would like to share?