Manager.dev: The Engineering Manager Newsletter

Weekly insights for engineering managers.

Written by Anton Zaides

140 posts

The 13 software engineering laws

Hyrum's law, Conway’s law, Zawinski's law, and 10 others.

Apr 1, 2025236.8k views

Don't become an Engineering Manager

Over drinks a few weeks ago, a friend told me he'd been offered a promotion, to an Engineering Manager role.

Mar 392.7k views

The software engineering "squeeze"

Becoming a software engineer was a life hack. The best profession on earth deserved the wake up call

Jun 24, 202569.3k views

The slow death of the hands-on engineering manager

And how to combat it. The story of an EM who created a ChatGPT for the internal docs in a few hours

Nov 12, 202462.4k views

The slow death of the hands-on engineering manager

Distracting software engineers is much more harmful than you think

Why software engineers MUST have no-distractions time

Apr 30, 202458.8k views

Distracting software engineers is much more harmful than you think

Improve your SQL skills X2 in 5 minutes

SQL for managers is an underrated skill

Feb 13, 202439.0k views

5 Powerful Persuasion Methods for Engineering Managers

Insider tips to drive results, accelerate decisions, and build consensus from a former Google Engineering Director

Apr 29, 202536.2k views

5 Powerful Persuasion Methods for Engineering Managers

The unwritten laws of software engineering

Last April, I wrote a well-received article about the 13 software engineering laws - Hyrum’s, Conway’s, Zawinski’s, and 10 famous others.

Mar 1734.3k views

The unwritten laws of software engineering

The Guide to Stock Options conversations

Why every manager should talk to their employees about stock options

Mar 26, 202432.1k views

The Guide to Stock Options conversations

The "I don't know, Claude wrote this" pandemic

When Claude drives you off the cliff

Jun 1631.3k views

The "I don't know, Claude wrote this" pandemic

Using fake deadlines without driving your engineers crazy

The 5 most common mistakes of managers and how to avoid them

Dec 10, 202431.2k views

Using fake deadlines without driving your engineers crazy

Feature flags are ruining your codebase

The dangers of letting PMs control them

Mar 5, 202431.2k views

Stop forcing AI tools on your engineers

What software engineers really need from their managers right now

Jul 8, 202528.6k views

Engineering Managers are going to hate OpenClaw

A ChatGPT-like wave of hype is about to hit us, and you should be afraid

Apr 728.5k views

Engineering Managers are going to hate OpenClaw

Why sprints are taking the joy out of building software

A short rant about broken sprints and possible alternatives

Oct 29, 202426.9k views

Why sprints are taking the joy out of building software

Hiring ONLY seniors is the worst policy in the software industry

Why you should hire a junior for your next open position

Jan 23, 202426.6k views

Hiring ONLY seniors is the worst policy in the software industry

5 engineering dogmas it's time to retire

A few months ago, I wrote about 13 software engineering laws, which are observations about how software projects behave.

Dec 16, 202526.2k views

5 engineering dogmas it's time to retire

The software engineering war

Most of us picked a side and won't budge. Which one are you on?

Jul 725.3k views

Engineering Management in the Age of Agents

Why I'm very optimistic about Engineering Managers

Aug 12, 202525.0k views

Engineering Management in the Age of Agents

Shadow work in engineering teams

And the price your team pays for it

Nov 18, 202524.0k views

The un-hateable engineering managers

The lie of Radical Candor and ruining an engineer's day

May 1923.8k views

"20% for tech debt" doesn't work

5 traps will stop your technical vision from happening

Aug 6, 202423.8k views

How I destroyed the company's DB

And survived to talk about it

Sep 26, 202323.5k views

The 7 must-read Engineering Management books

Written by Engineering Managers, for Engineering Managers. All you need to know about your job.

Apr 8, 202523.1k views

The 7 must-read Engineering Management books

Team got cut. Scope didn’t.

When you are asked to "do more with less"

Jul 29, 202522.2k views

The price of mandatory code reviews

Challenging the unwritten law of software engineering

Oct 21, 202521.7k views

Build your engineering team like a dungeon party

What's your ideal engineering team mix?

Oct 6, 202521.3k views

Build your engineering team like a dungeon party

Product Management is broken, a change is coming

It started as a promising concept:

Jan 9, 202421.3k views

Product Management is broken, a change is coming

The engineering manager's attention budget

Every Engineering Manager has 5 jobs - most distribute their 100 'attention points' across only 2-3 of them

Apr 2121.1k views

The engineering manager's attention budget

10 Must-Reads for Engineering Leaders

Apply the lessons to get to Staff+ / Manager roles

Apr 5, 202421.0k views