This is a living list of principles I’ve encountered, adopted, and pressure-tested over the years. Some are borrowed from people smarter than me. A few I had to learn the hard way. All of them have earned their place by showing up when it mattered.

I’ll keep updating this as I find new ones worth keeping, or retire ones that stop being useful.

The hardest problems are rarely technical.

Most end up being people problems. The system does what the organization tells it to, whether anyone intended that or not.

Related: Conway’s Law

Learn why, not just what.

Being wrong is fine. Not understanding why is not. Before you tear something down, make sure you know why it was built in the first place.

Related: Chesterton’s Fence

Bias toward motion.

Start simple, start now. A complex system that works is always built from a simple system that worked first. The bigger risk is standing still.

Related: Gall’s Law

Strategy is a choice, not a result.

Decide what matters. Then decide what doesn’t. Strategy isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you choose.

Outcomes over empire.

The size of the team is not the measure of the impact. When the metric becomes the goal, it stops being a useful metric. This will matter even more as AI makes it possible to do more with less.

Related: Goodhart’s Law

Steadiness is a superpower.

Things will go wrong. Your composure determines the outcome. The person who stays calm in the room is usually the one who finds the way through.

Related: Murphy’s Law

If you can’t explain why it exists, it probably shouldn’t.

Purpose before mechanics. Every feature, process, and meeting should be able to justify itself. If it can’t, remove it.

Related: YAGNI

Convictions should be stress-tested, not defended.

The fastest way to a better answer is to put yours out first. Hold strong opinions loosely, and invite people to challenge them.

Related: Cunningham’s Law

Automate the process, question what remains.

Process should earn its place. Automate what you can, and regularly ask whether the rest is still necessary. If a process can’t be automated, it should at least be intentional.

Related: Scout Rule

Open by default.

Transparency surfaces problems faster. Share what you learn. Reduce barriers for others. Open source isn’t an identity; it’s a strategy that works.

Related: Linus’s Law

Build thinkers, not followers.

Independence over output. The best thing you can do for someone is teach them to think for themselves. Multiply yourself through others, not by creating dependencies on yourself.

Last updated: April 2026