First Principles Thinking

Following "First Principles Thinking", let's first answer a fundamental question. Why are Engineering Manager (EM) roles needed the first place?

An EM serves several critical functions:

• Strategic alignment: Ensuring the team’s goals align with business objectives.
• Sup...

AI has brought sweeping changes to the software engineering landscape, transforming how developers work and the skills they need. While AI offers exciting possibilities, it also introduces challenges to software engineers. Here are impacts AI has on software engineering profession — for better and w...

For many people, job hunting is an infrequent ordeal—something that happens every few years, requiring grueling months of applications and interviews. Once they land the job, they relax until the next cycle begins. But this mindset misses a key truth: success comes from continuous preparation, not j...

Today's high tech job market is the toughest in years. For new college grads, it is even more challenging. I understand the pain, because I experienced the downturn from the dot com bubble burst, right after I graduated. One unique situation in this downturn is that AI can automate a lot of engineer...

I receive LinkedIn reach-outs regularly, many of which are from job seekers looking to connect with potential hiring managers. Kudos to those who take the initiative to reach out! However, I spotted a common problem in many of the reach-out messages that gets in the way for establishing a valuable c...

Yeah, you heard that right! We should treat other the way they want to be treated instead! The logic behind it is quite simple, but it took a while for me to fully connected the dots. After switching the perspective, there is a whole new world to discover. I’m also astonished by how widely this prin...

While teaching product management certificate, I met lots of bright students looking to transition into PM career and got the following question from a lot of them. How to navigate through the catch-22 during the career transition, e.g., engineer->PM, IC->manager (that’s right, this is a career tran...

Want to grow your career and leadership capability? Cognitive Bias is a crucial concept you should deeply understand.

What’s Cognitive Bias?

Click the “play” button below and watch a funny TikTok short video first and then answer a surprising question from me below. 

Question: Why do you find thi...

(Credit: feature image source)

Skiing black diamond (advanced) is not a big deal for a lot of people. For me, although it’s not the most challenging thing I have done, it is definitely not a piece of cake. Today I eventually got the time and courage to do the black diamond runs at Crystal Mountain....

After “hibernating” in his man cave with computers and game consoles the entire winter, Joe decided to bulk up and get his beach body before the summer arrives. He hired a personal trainer Michael. Joe showed up every training session without missing a single one. Michael is such an empathetic and h...