Products
I want to care about my products. About every single bit of it. Even in the parts that might not seem obvious at first or are hidden for the actual user. There should be no rough edges, everything should fit in. (of course not in a prototype).
Jony Ive’s interview notes argue that meaningful design comes from caring about people and unseen details, prioritizing intimate, real-world collaboration over speed, and believing true quality shows up in what isn’t immediately visible.
Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work. See https://simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/code-proven-to-work/#atom-everything Code must be manually exercised, covered by automated tests with reproducible evidence (commands, outputs, recordings or screenshots) included in the Pull Request.
Meetings
TIP
Meetings should be dialogues, not monologues!
- Status Update → Write a
mailchat message - Deliver Information → Write a mail
- Complexity, Collaboration, Emotion → Schedule a meeting
Meetings might not even be needed
Write it down, debate and argue in text so anyone interested can see what’s going on. There’s your minutes, your agenda, your invite for future ones right there.
Example: Linux kernel was entirely built over email.
Takes on meetings
They’re just corporate-sanctioned babysitting exercises.
Agree with this quote from Hackernews for many types of meetings. Very rarely are they actually needed.
Brainstorming meetings
If they don’t happen in person with a small selection of experts this type of meeting is questionable.
Decisions
Document major decisions and their effect on your work.
Getting back into the flow
- leave syntax errors in the code when clocking out in the evening
- put TODO comments everywhere when developing a feature, then make sure there are none left when asking for review
Work Life Balance
It is also a good idea to place the hobby part of programming in a related but not same field/tech stack than you day job. If you simply do more work in your free time you might burn out. You want something that provides relaxation but still synergy effects with your day job.
On leaving jobs
People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers