Blog for Engineering Managers

Blog for Engineering Managers

#34 | Sunday reads for EMs

My favourite reads of the week to make your Sunday a little more inspiring.

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Stephane Moreau
Feb 08, 2026
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👋 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

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First, Agree on the Tradeoffs (Jade Rubick)

tl;dr: Most technical disagreements stall because people are arguing positions, not evaluating tradeoffs. Force at least three options (teams almost never explore the solution space enough on their own), get everyone to explicitly agree on the tradeoffs between them, then decide. Aligning on tradeoffs shifts people from advocacy mode into analytical mode and you get genuine buy-in almost for free because people feel heard before the decision is even made.

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