Jade Rubick
@jaderubick.bsky.social
I write the Engineering Leadership Weekly newsletter at https://www.rubick.com and host the Decoding Leadership podcast.
Human specialist. He/him. Former VPE at New Relic, Gremlin, Mode, etc.
Music at: https://bsky.app/profile/jadethree.bsky.social
Human specialist. He/him. Former VPE at New Relic, Gremlin, Mode, etc.
Music at: https://bsky.app/profile/jadethree.bsky.social
Another thing you need to be aware of is that the higher you go in an organization, the more there is an invisible distortion field around you. It affects how people interact with you, and the information you see from your environment.
https://www.rubick.com/advice-for-new-directors/
www.rubick.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Another thing you need to be aware of is that the higher you go in an organization, the more there is an invisible distortion field around you. It affects how people interact with you, and the information you see from your environment.
Reposted by Jade Rubick
jesusfuckingchrist. apparently europe's rich actually paid to be able to hunt humans during the bosnian genocide in the 1990's.
Wochenend-Scharfschützen auf der Jagd nach Menschen
Der Mailänder Staatsanwalt Guido Salvini hat seit Februar dieses Jahres eine wahrlich unfassbare Ermittlungsarbeit aufgenommen: Es geht um den Vorwurf, dass reiche und einflussreiche Männer sehr viel ...
www.n-tv.de
November 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM
jesusfuckingchrist. apparently europe's rich actually paid to be able to hunt humans during the bosnian genocide in the 1990's.
Reposted by Jade Rubick
It seems that AI does not magically solves the legacy problem.
by @raymyers.bsky.social
ainativedev.io/news/ai-hate...
by @raymyers.bsky.social
ainativedev.io/news/ai-hate...
AI hates legacy code
Ray Myers, chief architect at OpenHands, urges a critical examination of AI's limitations with legacy code,
ainativedev.io
November 19, 2025 at 11:39 AM
It seems that AI does not magically solves the legacy problem.
by @raymyers.bsky.social
ainativedev.io/news/ai-hate...
by @raymyers.bsky.social
ainativedev.io/news/ai-hate...
One thing you can do with skip levels is ask questions about things you believe you've communicated. You'll be surprised how often people haven't really internalized it.
https://www.rubick.com/skip-level-1-on-1s/
www.rubick.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
One thing you can do with skip levels is ask questions about things you believe you've communicated. You'll be surprised how often people haven't really internalized it.
Just in case this is useful to anyone: Apple notes has a weird bug where you can have your notes leak disk space forever. You will gradually take up all the room on your iOS and iPad devices. (MacOS is not affected afaict).
Solution was to fukcing recreate all of your notes. I wrote a script.
Solution was to fukcing recreate all of your notes. I wrote a script.
November 17, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Just in case this is useful to anyone: Apple notes has a weird bug where you can have your notes leak disk space forever. You will gradually take up all the room on your iOS and iPad devices. (MacOS is not affected afaict).
Solution was to fukcing recreate all of your notes. I wrote a script.
Solution was to fukcing recreate all of your notes. I wrote a script.
Process gates tend to persist over time, increase cycle time, and tend to proliferate into a death spiral (things aren't working, add more).
https://www.rubick.com/process-gates-of-hell/
www.rubick.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Process gates tend to persist over time, increase cycle time, and tend to proliferate into a death spiral (things aren't working, add more).
One of the most unexploited aspects of product delivery is playing with the sequencing and manner in which you break up the work.
https://www.rubick.com/milestones-not-projects/
www.rubick.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:14 PM
One of the most unexploited aspects of product delivery is playing with the sequencing and manner in which you break up the work.
I like to describe full-time work as depth-focused learning. You're learning deeply within a certain company context. In consulting, your learning tends to be more shallow from the places you're at, but you have more of them to draw from. So it is breadth-focused learning.
https://www.rubick.com/executive-consultant-curious/
www.rubick.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I like to describe full-time work as depth-focused learning. You're learning deeply within a certain company context. In consulting, your learning tends to be more shallow from the places you're at, but you have more of them to draw from. So it is breadth-focused learning.
Task Forces can be a sneaky way to use the resources of other departments. But other departments might feel bad about it if you don't get the effort stamped as important.
https://www.rubick.com/task-forces/
www.rubick.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Task Forces can be a sneaky way to use the resources of other departments. But other departments might feel bad about it if you don't get the effort stamped as important.
The biggest surprise for me when I moved to a pure manager of managers role was how little I knew what was going on. It was like someone had turned off all the lights.
https://www.rubick.com/advice-for-new-directors/
www.rubick.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The biggest surprise for me when I moved to a pure manager of managers role was how little I knew what was going on. It was like someone had turned off all the lights.
The cross-team project danger zone occurs somewhere after about forty people. I often see it happen between forty and sixty people in an organization.
https://www.rubick.com/organizational-danger-zones/
www.rubick.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The cross-team project danger zone occurs somewhere after about forty people. I often see it happen between forty and sixty people in an organization.
Are you a Nowist? Have you known other people that you now recognize as Nowists?
https://www.rubick.com/velocity-role-nowist/
www.rubick.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Are you a Nowist? Have you known other people that you now recognize as Nowists?
You may be able to get people to agree to a rule like that (particularly after an incident). When you do, you are adding leverage during future incidents, because every incident is now a little more expensive.
https://www.rubick.com/reliability-all-stick-no-carrot/
www.rubick.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:14 PM
You may be able to get people to agree to a rule like that (particularly after an incident). When you do, you are adding leverage during future incidents, because every incident is now a little more expensive.
If you make improvements in a lasting way, every improvement you make adds to the last one. Having four quarters of equity related accomplishments behind you will mean your company is noticeably better than it was a year ago.
https://www.rubick.com/use-okrs-to-drive-equity/
www.rubick.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:14 PM
If you make improvements in a lasting way, every improvement you make adds to the last one. Having four quarters of equity related accomplishments behind you will mean your company is noticeably better than it was a year ago.
Usually the way I come up with organizational work is I spend some focused time on a writing assignment for myself. I'll list the problems I see in my organization, and try to identify the most important ones to address.
https://www.rubick.com/organizational-work-second-job/
www.rubick.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Usually the way I come up with organizational work is I spend some focused time on a writing assignment for myself. I'll list the problems I see in my organization, and try to identify the most important ones to address.
The initial group will largely set the tone for people that come later. So try and optimize for some initial participants that will be active, but also show vulnerability and empathy with each other early on.
https://www.rubick.com/mini-m-variations/
www.rubick.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The initial group will largely set the tone for people that come later. So try and optimize for some initial participants that will be active, but also show vulnerability and empathy with each other early on.
Elaine May joined me on Decoding Leadership to discuss being a change agent, and what's not so great about SCRUM.
www.youtube.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Elaine May joined me on Decoding Leadership to discuss being a change agent, and what's not so great about SCRUM.
You may find that your managers don't have the bandwidth to take on additional work. This is actually a really good signal. Your manager is working at capacity.
https://www.rubick.com/organizational-work-second-job/
www.rubick.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
You may find that your managers don't have the bandwidth to take on additional work. This is actually a really good signal. Your manager is working at capacity.
The aim of a weekly project update is not to share everything about the project. It's also not to show how great your team is. When you approach project updates from either of those perspectives, your writing becomes excrutiating to read.
https://www.rubick.com/project-manager-weekly-rituals/
www.rubick.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The aim of a weekly project update is not to share everything about the project. It's also not to show how great your team is. When you approach project updates from either of those perspectives, your writing becomes excrutiating to read.
What matters is how long it takes from when you start working on a problem to when you're able to turn your attention to the next problem. Iteration speed is more important than perfection.
https://www.rubick.com/make-changes-easy/
www.rubick.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
What matters is how long it takes from when you start working on a problem to when you're able to turn your attention to the next problem. Iteration speed is more important than perfection.
Organizational work is about creating a flywheel effect, where it gets easier and easier over time to create the same impact.
https://www.rubick.com/organizational-work-second-job/
www.rubick.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Organizational work is about creating a flywheel effect, where it gets easier and easier over time to create the same impact.
Many people, when I first describe mini-Ms, don't grasp that the boss cannot be part of the Mini-M. It's a peer group and having any senior executive or boss as a part of group, whether it was me or someone from human resources or anyone else would destroy that peer group.
https://www.rubick.com/implementing-mini-m-support-groups/
www.rubick.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Many people, when I first describe mini-Ms, don't grasp that the boss cannot be part of the Mini-M. It's a peer group and having any senior executive or boss as a part of group, whether it was me or someone from human resources or anyone else would destroy that peer group.
A strategy document should outline where you are at today, and where you need to be. It should articulate what the gap looks like.
https://www.rubick.com/strategy-shoulds/
www.rubick.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
A strategy document should outline where you are at today, and where you need to be. It should articulate what the gap looks like.
You are judged by the output of your organization. And specifically, you're judged by the difference you make on the organization. What do you make better? How do you improve things? What is the diff you apply to that organization?
https://www.rubick.com/advice-for-new-directors/
www.rubick.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:14 PM
You are judged by the output of your organization. And specifically, you're judged by the difference you make on the organization. What do you make better? How do you improve things? What is the diff you apply to that organization?
I believe the reason this seems to happen at between ten and twenty engineers is because that's when one person can no longer reasonably manage everyone in engineering. You have to start to split the world.
https://www.rubick.com/organizational-danger-zones/
www.rubick.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I believe the reason this seems to happen at between ten and twenty engineers is because that's when one person can no longer reasonably manage everyone in engineering. You have to start to split the world.