Just because someone says it on the Internet doesn't mean it's true.

I've been involved in spacecraft and space systems design and development for my entire career, including teaching the senior-level capstone spacecraft design course, for ten years at MIT and now at the University of Maryland for more than three decades. These are some bits of wisdom that I have gleaned during that time, some by picking up on the experience of others, but mostly by screwing up myself. I originally wrote these up and handed them out to my senior design class, as a strong hint on how best to survive my design experience… —

When you’re hiring, try not to get caught in the trap of evaluating candidates based on their best possible performance. Look instead for consistency: reliable results in variable conditions, the ability to deliver predictably with consistent quality, and so forth.

Much has been said about the role of communication within software teams. For those who have labored through the complexities of large-scale projects, it'...

Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently, because asynchronous communication involves less frequent, but richer communication, meaning there is less time talking about the work and more time doing it, allowing the system to optimize for throughput and flow.

Mindful context switching is a strategic approach to task management that emphasizes the importance of staying focused on a single task while maintaining an acceptable level of responsiveness.

As we are about to start the planning meetings for 2024 at AWS, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I take notes.

All creatives are searching for a way to demonstrate that their work has a concrete business value. But does such a measurement really exist?

No one's offering men a model except the right. It's time for a new plan.

Carl Malamud, defender of civil liberties, wants more – not less government on the Internet. While many Internet pioneers have turned their attention toward getting rich, Carl Malamud has remained focused on the public interest. A passionate proponent of the public's right to access government documents, the pugnacious Malamud goaded the Securities and Exchange Commission […]

Damit das Tao of Programming nicht verlorengeht, wenn das Original mal verschwindet...

Back when I was managing at Uber, I latched onto a thinking tool that I drilled into the teams I worked with: reach the right outcomes by prioritizing the company first, your team second, and yourself third. This “company, team, self” framework proved a helpful decision-making tool, and at the time I felt it almost always led to the correct decision. It also helped me articulate why I disagreed with some of my peers’ decisions, which violated this hierarchy by placing individual or team preferences over the company’s priorities.

A common pattern is to stop short of the real finish line for your project. A little evangelism, documentation, and polish can go a long way.

Six simple lessons to help you get started

A Simple 30-60-90 Day Plan

Lessons in onboarding to a new job

Getting on the same page with your team

Maintaining momentum after the first 90 days

Be aware of your surroundings in new situations to avoid traps

"Stick to boring architecture for as long as possible, and spend the majority of your time, and resources, building something your customers are willing...