Cate
@catehstn.bsky.social
engineering director. coach. quantum particle. in search of adventure; it’s probably fine ✨
Author of The Engineering Leader, published by O'Reilly
https://cate.blog
https://whatsmyjob.club
Author of The Engineering Leader, published by O'Reilly
https://cate.blog
https://whatsmyjob.club
Pinned
Cate
@catehstn.bsky.social
· Nov 17
I wrote a book 😂 the audio book came out a couple of days ago even! I had yet to post about it so probably not even hitting that 5% 🙈
Available everywhere you buy books, including Amazon: www.amazon.com/Engineering-...
Available everywhere you buy books, including Amazon: www.amazon.com/Engineering-...
My boring AI prediction:
Things will change. Humans won't.
When Uber launched: "Everyone has a private driver now!" (not really)
When AI launches: "Everyone gets an assistant!" (also not really)
AI is a helpful productivity tool - but the hype always overpromises and under-delivers.
Things will change. Humans won't.
When Uber launched: "Everyone has a private driver now!" (not really)
When AI launches: "Everyone gets an assistant!" (also not really)
AI is a helpful productivity tool - but the hype always overpromises and under-delivers.
February 3, 2026 at 9:17 PM
My boring AI prediction:
Things will change. Humans won't.
When Uber launched: "Everyone has a private driver now!" (not really)
When AI launches: "Everyone gets an assistant!" (also not really)
AI is a helpful productivity tool - but the hype always overpromises and under-delivers.
Things will change. Humans won't.
When Uber launched: "Everyone has a private driver now!" (not really)
When AI launches: "Everyone gets an assistant!" (also not really)
AI is a helpful productivity tool - but the hype always overpromises and under-delivers.
Two weeks since leaving DDG and I am high on creative energy.
I love working in larger orgs - I really enjoy strategy, scale, navigating complexity. But having autonomy again, being able to go from idea to done without layers in between... it's amazing.
Feels so good to ship!
I love working in larger orgs - I really enjoy strategy, scale, navigating complexity. But having autonomy again, being able to go from idea to done without layers in between... it's amazing.
Feels so good to ship!
February 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Two weeks since leaving DDG and I am high on creative energy.
I love working in larger orgs - I really enjoy strategy, scale, navigating complexity. But having autonomy again, being able to go from idea to done without layers in between... it's amazing.
Feels so good to ship!
I love working in larger orgs - I really enjoy strategy, scale, navigating complexity. But having autonomy again, being able to go from idea to done without layers in between... it's amazing.
Feels so good to ship!
After a decade+ of running remote teams, good training for new EMs remained one of my biggest challenges.
Now @jyhsu.bsky.social are releasing the course we wish we'd had.
The Engineering Manager Survival Guide: 8 weeks to learn how to be effective without burning out.
cate.blog/2026/02/03/a...
Now @jyhsu.bsky.social are releasing the course we wish we'd had.
The Engineering Manager Survival Guide: 8 weeks to learn how to be effective without burning out.
cate.blog/2026/02/03/a...
Announcing: The Engineering Manager Survival Guide
Image credit: Joe Groove One of the biggest issues I saw running remote teams for the past decade+ was the lack of good engineering manager training. With a global team it’s harder (and more expens…
cate.blog
February 3, 2026 at 1:24 PM
After a decade+ of running remote teams, good training for new EMs remained one of my biggest challenges.
Now @jyhsu.bsky.social are releasing the course we wish we'd had.
The Engineering Manager Survival Guide: 8 weeks to learn how to be effective without burning out.
cate.blog/2026/02/03/a...
Now @jyhsu.bsky.social are releasing the course we wish we'd had.
The Engineering Manager Survival Guide: 8 weeks to learn how to be effective without burning out.
cate.blog/2026/02/03/a...
Reposted by Cate
One of my illustrations from my last Commission, go check out the rest and the full result here: catehstn.github.io/what-raccoon/
A silly little quiz to find out what working type you are in the tech biz, it was such a fun project to be working on and I’m so happy I’m allowed to finally post it🖤
A silly little quiz to find out what working type you are in the tech biz, it was such a fun project to be working on and I’m so happy I’m allowed to finally post it🖤
February 1, 2026 at 9:01 AM
One of my illustrations from my last Commission, go check out the rest and the full result here: catehstn.github.io/what-raccoon/
A silly little quiz to find out what working type you are in the tech biz, it was such a fun project to be working on and I’m so happy I’m allowed to finally post it🖤
A silly little quiz to find out what working type you are in the tech biz, it was such a fun project to be working on and I’m so happy I’m allowed to finally post it🖤
Reposted by Cate
Everyone I know who has taken this cannot believe the way you are calling them out :-D
February 2, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Everyone I know who has taken this cannot believe the way you are calling them out :-D
My most unhinged raccoon themed creation yet. A quiz that tells you what iconic raccoon you are most like.
February 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM
My most unhinged raccoon themed creation yet. A quiz that tells you what iconic raccoon you are most like.
Reposted by Cate
"the vulgar, gilded lifestyle of the Trumps makes them look like Marie Antoinette skulking in her cake-filled chateau, or Hermann Göring’s staring up at his looted Monet."
amazing
amazing
January 30, 2026 at 5:18 PM
"the vulgar, gilded lifestyle of the Trumps makes them look like Marie Antoinette skulking in her cake-filled chateau, or Hermann Göring’s staring up at his looted Monet."
amazing
amazing
Excited to share: After our January round sold out, registration is now open for the next DRI Your Career round in April! We'd love to have you join us. Sign up at driyourcareer.com 🦝
DRI Your Career - Shape Your Career, or Capitalism Will
An 8-week course to take ownership of your career with clarity, confidence, and intention | Jean Hsu and Cate Huston
driyourcareer.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Excited to share: After our January round sold out, registration is now open for the next DRI Your Career round in April! We'd love to have you join us. Sign up at driyourcareer.com 🦝
From mid-2025 but interesting on LLMs and coding.
"Nobody cares if the logic board traces are pleasingly routed. If anything we build endures, it won’t be because the codebase was beautiful."
"Nobody cares if the logic board traces are pleasingly routed. If anything we build endures, it won’t be because the codebase was beautiful."
My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts
My smartest friends have bananas arguments about LLM coding.
fly.io
January 29, 2026 at 8:31 PM
From mid-2025 but interesting on LLMs and coding.
"Nobody cares if the logic board traces are pleasingly routed. If anything we build endures, it won’t be because the codebase was beautiful."
"Nobody cares if the logic board traces are pleasingly routed. If anything we build endures, it won’t be because the codebase was beautiful."
This is a good and helpful article, highlighting some well intentioned practices that can turn out not to work - Mistakes I've Made as an Engineering Manager -
Mistakes I've Made as an Engineering Manager | CSS-Tricks
I’ve been a manager for many years at companies of different scale. Through these experiences, I’ve done my share of learning, and made some mistakes along
css-tricks.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
This is a good and helpful article, highlighting some well intentioned practices that can turn out not to work - Mistakes I've Made as an Engineering Manager -
A little video about things I worked on at the start of my career. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive... and some products that got killed along the way 💀
Welcome to tech 😂
Welcome to tech 😂
January 28, 2026 at 8:59 PM
A little video about things I worked on at the start of my career. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive... and some products that got killed along the way 💀
Welcome to tech 😂
Welcome to tech 😂
Performance reviews are the scorecard of capitalism. They measure your value to that org at that moment. No more, no less.
The goalposts move with market forces. What matters is: are you actually growing?
cate.blog/2026/01/27/p...
The goalposts move with market forces. What matters is: are you actually growing?
cate.blog/2026/01/27/p...
Performance Reviews Are the Scorecard of Capitalism (And Why That Should Free You)
Credit: Daniel Dalea / Unsplash Every review season is an emotional rollercoaster. Anxiety. Self assessments. Anticipation. Disappointment. As an IC, I felt like how much it impacted me was a perso…
cate.blog
January 27, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Performance reviews are the scorecard of capitalism. They measure your value to that org at that moment. No more, no less.
The goalposts move with market forces. What matters is: are you actually growing?
cate.blog/2026/01/27/p...
The goalposts move with market forces. What matters is: are you actually growing?
cate.blog/2026/01/27/p...
I wrote about Scaling Teams, and the component parts of People, Projects, and Process cate.blog/2026/01/20/s...
Scaling Teams: People, Projects, and Process
Credit: Spencer Watson / Unsplash Scaling teams is one of my favourite things to do – probably because it’s where people meet systems, with ever-changing questions about what makes team…
cate.blog
January 26, 2026 at 5:59 PM
I wrote about Scaling Teams, and the component parts of People, Projects, and Process cate.blog/2026/01/20/s...
Build things you believe in ✨👩🏻💻
From Google to WordPress to DuckDuckGo... what connects my career decisions? Working on products that actually mattered to me 💖
From Google to WordPress to DuckDuckGo... what connects my career decisions? Working on products that actually mattered to me 💖
January 22, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Build things you believe in ✨👩🏻💻
From Google to WordPress to DuckDuckGo... what connects my career decisions? Working on products that actually mattered to me 💖
From Google to WordPress to DuckDuckGo... what connects my career decisions? Working on products that actually mattered to me 💖
Interesting theory on AI being able to measure impact of changes, with a side of history - The Measurement Problem in Software Engineering maestroai.substack.com/p/the-measur...
The Measurement Problem in Software Engineering
Fifty years of failed attempts—and how AI might offer a path forward
maestroai.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Interesting theory on AI being able to measure impact of changes, with a side of history - The Measurement Problem in Software Engineering maestroai.substack.com/p/the-measur...
Reposted by Cate
This poll is basically “Should we be the villains of World War 3?” and it’s good to know 30% of Republicans are like “why not?”
January 18, 2026 at 5:07 PM
This poll is basically “Should we be the villains of World War 3?” and it’s good to know 30% of Republicans are like “why not?”
Had a hard/sad week telling all the people I've loved working with that I'm leaving @duck-duck-go.bsky.social.. But very excited for what's next. More to come.
January 16, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Had a hard/sad week telling all the people I've loved working with that I'm leaving @duck-duck-go.bsky.social.. But very excited for what's next. More to come.
Some good advice here - How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026?
"You’ll never regret building relationships with people, or being generous with your knowledge in ways that remind others that you’re great at what you do."
"You’ll never regret building relationships with people, or being generous with your knowledge in ways that remind others that you’re great at what you do."
How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026? - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Some good advice here - How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026?
"You’ll never regret building relationships with people, or being generous with your knowledge in ways that remind others that you’re great at what you do."
"You’ll never regret building relationships with people, or being generous with your knowledge in ways that remind others that you’re great at what you do."
I found this really interesting, one of the more clearly articulated descriptions of how programming is changing, and the value of systems thinking merowing.info/posts/the-ag...
The Age of the Micro-Entrepreneur | Krzysztof Zabłocki
What happens when a single person can build what used to require a team? The answer is reshaping everything we know about software development.
merowing.info
January 5, 2026 at 5:59 PM
I found this really interesting, one of the more clearly articulated descriptions of how programming is changing, and the value of systems thinking merowing.info/posts/the-ag...
Reposted by Cate
Reposted by Cate
$TSLA fan believes the only reason Tesla sales are falling is because consumers don’t do product research and have been brainwashed by anti-Elon propaganda.
Ok. 🙃
Ok. 🙃
January 3, 2026 at 1:43 AM
$TSLA fan believes the only reason Tesla sales are falling is because consumers don’t do product research and have been brainwashed by anti-Elon propaganda.
Ok. 🙃
Ok. 🙃
Reposted by Cate
It is to Canada's shame we have not spoken out or supported a Canadian judge being sanctioned by the US
Her life is frozen. She cannot use credit cards, travel, move money, or access email. This is not sustainable
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Her life is frozen. She cannot use credit cards, travel, move money, or access email. This is not sustainable
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
www.irishtimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:26 PM
It is to Canada's shame we have not spoken out or supported a Canadian judge being sanctioned by the US
Her life is frozen. She cannot use credit cards, travel, move money, or access email. This is not sustainable
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Her life is frozen. She cannot use credit cards, travel, move money, or access email. This is not sustainable
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
I _finally_ started a (monthly) leadership newsletter, and the first issue went out today. You can read it at newsletter.whatsmyjob.club/archive/new-...
This one is about the difference between strategic + get sh*t done energy. I also collected interesting things to read.
This one is about the difference between strategic + get sh*t done energy. I also collected interesting things to read.
new year, same you (but maybe a bit more optimistic?)
Hello from the first issue of the leadership newsletter I planned to start 2 years ago in order to promote my book! The thing no-one tells you about writing...
newsletter.whatsmyjob.club
January 2, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I _finally_ started a (monthly) leadership newsletter, and the first issue went out today. You can read it at newsletter.whatsmyjob.club/archive/new-...
This one is about the difference between strategic + get sh*t done energy. I also collected interesting things to read.
This one is about the difference between strategic + get sh*t done energy. I also collected interesting things to read.