My Beliefs and Opinions

Shipping

Speed is everything
It is better to ship something rather than spend endless time trying to perfect a product that never sees production.
Seek out feedback and iterate
Small teams ship faster, having less cooks in the kitchen.
Teams that use AI will see productivity boosts, teams not using AI will get left behind.
Using AI does not excuse shipping what you cannot explain.

Speed matters but is not always the best. This can be for many reasons, but mainly boils down to Risk > Reward. Shipping a small bug can result in a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars at the scale large companies operate at. This doesn't mean small teams/companies can't have large losses due to bugs, but typically the impact is proportional to the size of the company.
The larger the team, the more planning and alignment required.
Sometimes starting over is necessary

Writing code by hand shouldn't be the default anymore. I'd rather spend that time figuring out what to build.
Systems thinking and design matter more than ever. I need to understand how a change fits into the whole app and what it means for the rest of the system.
I want to trust agents with more of the work. That starts with giving them a way to test what they built without waiting on me.
Good CI lets me move faster. Tests should catch the mistakes I care about and give agents enough feedback to fix them.
If I shipped it, I own it. I should be able to explain how it works and why I built it that way, even if I didn't write the code.

Visibility can take you a long way. How will anyone discover your work without visibility?
High Agency will make your manager's job easier and they will reward you for it.
Domain knowledge being a domain expert is a must. Know your domain like the back of your hand.
Understanding and delivering impact is more important than delivering the most technically sound feature that has noe impact.

Stay humble. We are lifelong learners. You will never know everything, so don't act like it.
Your job title does not give you the right to belittle someone.
Junior Devs often offer a new perspective that Senior+ Devs might not have.

Mismatched expectations lead to disappointment
Underpromise, overdeliver
Be the first to admit that you made a mistake.
Keep people updated, especially when something changes. They shouldn't have to chase you to find out where things stand.

Help people without expecting something in return.
Small things count. Take a few minutes to read someone's work or try what they're building.
Give feedback people can use. Tell them what worked, what confused you, and where you think they could improve.
Listen before giving advice. Sometimes people just need to talk through something.
If you offer to help, follow through. Be honest when you don't have the time or can't help with what they need.

Mentors offer a level of wisdom and knowledge you cannot obtain from anywhere else. I would not be where I am today without my mentors.
We owe it to the community to pass our advise and wisdom down to the next generation.