# Jade Rubick — Engineering Leadership

> Writing, courses and advising on building humane, effective engineering organizations, by Jade Rubick (Jade Rubick Consulting, LLC).

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## Key pages

- [About](https://www.rubick.com/about/index.md): Jade Rubick builds humane, effective engineering organizations. His background, what he believes, and what he writes.
- [Engineering Leadership Weekly](https://www.rubick.com/newsletter/index.md): Weekly newsletter on engineering leadership by Jade Rubick
- [Frontline Management Course](https://www.rubick.com/course/index.md): 5-month newsletter-based course on engineering management
- [Decoding Leadership Podcast](https://www.rubick.com/decoding-leadership/index.md): Where we break down the elements of humane and effective leadership
- [Contact](https://www.rubick.com/contact/index.md): Get in touch with Jade Rubick
- [Blog Posts](https://www.rubick.com/posts/index.md): Engineering leadership blog by Jade Rubick
- [Leadership wiki](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/index.md): Jade Rubick builds thriving engineering organizations. Expertise in scaling engineering, product delivery, and organizational coordination.

## Posts

- [A detailed look at FaST agile -- a practice well worth your time](https://www.rubick.com/fast-agile/index.md): An introduction to FaST, describing how it works and what the tradeoffs of adopting it are
- [A history of Mini-Ms](https://www.rubick.com/history-of-mini-ms/index.md): A history of Mini-Ms -- how this innovative practice came to be.
- [A practical guide to implementing pay equity in engineering](https://www.rubick.com/implementing-pay-equity/index.md): Describes the nuts and bolts of how to implement equitable pay (and equitable stock equity) within organizations (engineering focused).
- [A weekly project plan you will want to frame](https://www.rubick.com/weekly-project-plans/index.md): Provides a weekly project plan template geared towards software projects. The simplest possible plan that can work.
- [Achieve autonomy in product engineering with the independent executor model](https://www.rubick.com/independent-executor-model/index.md): Product engineering teams rely on dependencies heavily. They shouldn't. This post argues that product engineering teams (and all teams really) should instead operate using the 'independent executor model'.
- [Adding innovation labs](https://www.rubick.com/innovation-labs/index.md): Covers advice for setting up innovation labs in companies, pointing out a lot of the dangers and opportunities.
- [Advice for new directors](https://www.rubick.com/advice-for-new-directors/index.md): Jade Rubick shares his advice for new directors. All the surprises you may encounter, and tips for navigating the new skills of managing managers.
- [Beware the service provider model - a recipe for engineering team failure](https://www.rubick.com/service-provider-model/index.md): Service provider is the only pattern many platform teams have known. This article describes how this coordination model works and some alternatives to consider.
- [Books on management](https://www.rubick.com/management-books/index.md): Some book recommendations
- [Bundled hiring to double the effectiveness of your hiring process](https://www.rubick.com/bundled-hiring/index.md): Bundled hiring is where you take multiple, similar positions, and you merge the hiring queue and use a unified process to respond to all of them. It is one of the best approachs I've seen to speed up hiring, and increase the diversity of people you hire.
- [Calendar rules I learned from an EA](https://www.rubick.com/calendar-rules/index.md): Calendar rules I learned from an executive assistant and colleagues
- [Can this ownership exercise improve how you work with others?](https://www.rubick.com/role-definition/index.md): Learn a handy exercise you can use to define boundaries between roles (and teams)
- [Completed staff work](https://www.rubick.com/completed-staff-work/index.md): Describes complete staff work, a management technique that improves local autonomy, prevents going back and forth, and carves out greater responsibilities for yourself.
- [Coordinate your interviews with assertion-based interview plans](https://www.rubick.com/coordinate-your-interviews-with-an-interview-plan/index.md): Template and approach you can use to dramatically improve your interviewing results.
- [Coordination models - tools for getting groups to work well together](https://www.rubick.com/coordination-models/index.md): This is a list of patterns you can apply to coordinate the work of teams. The patterns are divided into centralized, role-based, and team coordination models.
- [Curious about becoming an executive consultant?](https://www.rubick.com/executive-consultant-curious/index.md): I share what I've learned about being a leadership consultant
- [Demo-driven development](https://www.rubick.com/demo-driven-development/index.md): Demo-driven development is a practice where you use regular demos, a standard week-by-week project plan, and value based user stories to plan the team's work.
- [Don’t make your engineering team commit](https://www.rubick.com/commitments/index.md): Commitments trade slower velocity for higher predictability. Is that what you really want?
- [Don’t repeat incidents](https://www.rubick.com/dont-repeat-incidents/index.md): I share an approach to gradually increasing the reliability of a software development organization, without over or underinvesting in reliability
- [Don’t use goal frameworks to manage projects](https://www.rubick.com/advice-for-using-goal-frameworks/index.md): Goal frameworks like OKRs are a popular way to coordinate the work across an organization. One of the most common anti-patterns is to use it to run projects in engineering. This describes why that is a problem and better alternatives.
- [Engineering manager vs. tech lead -- which is better?](https://www.rubick.com/engineering-manager-vs-tech-lead/index.md): This post outlines the various ways people break up the leadership roles on engineering teams: engineering manager, tech lead, and single-threaded owner. It also outlines how some responsibilities are broken up between engineering leader and other functions.
- [Everyone lies to leaders](https://www.rubick.com/everyone-lies-to-leaders/index.md): Power can delude those of us that rise to leadership. Our environment starts to lie to us, and we start getting bad information. Describes how this happens and how to combat it.
- [Evil staging and gauntlet programs, tools to increase your software reliability](https://www.rubick.com/evil-staging-gauntlet-programs/index.md): Evil staging and gauntlet programs are chaos engineering inspired, systemic approaches to improve software reliability.
- [Exploration and exploitation in technical standards](https://www.rubick.com/exploration-and-exploitation-in-technical-standards/index.md): Standards are a contentious topic for engineering organizations. Describes how to put in place the right amount of standards, but have a process that allows for useful exploration outside of standards.
- [First agree on the tradeoffs](https://www.rubick.com/tradeoffs-first/index.md): Jade outlines an approach to getting people with strong disagreements to agree
- [Getting out of thrash mode](https://www.rubick.com/thrash-mode/index.md): What do you do when you are too busy to do anything?
- [Glue your happy brains together with shared state](https://www.rubick.com/communication-is-shared-state/index.md): Communication is analogous to sharing state in computer systems. Describes how the same principles apply between both.
- [Great engineering teams focus on milestones instead of projects](https://www.rubick.com/milestones-not-projects/index.md): Programs are more complicated than projects which are more complicated than milestones. Instead of projects, focus on milestonesMost engineering organizations focus on delivering projects. You can get better results by focusing on milestones instead.
- [Group leadership coaching](https://www.rubick.com/group-leadership-coaching/index.md): Jade Rubick runs group leadership coaching sessions. Sign up if you're interested in learning more.
- [High trust and low trust organizations](https://www.rubick.com/high-trust-low-trust-organizations/index.md): Comparison of the differences between high trust and low trust organizations.
- [How an executive advisor can help you grow faster and navigate unfamiliar terrain](https://www.rubick.com/executive-advisor/index.md): An executive advisor can help you grow faster and navigate unfamiliar terrain. This post summarizes how to evaluate advisors and what rates to pay for their services
- [How security, reliability, and design teams can get other teams to do work for them -- the Objective Expert Model](https://www.rubick.com/objective-expert-model/index.md): Security, reliability, and design teams can use the objective expert model to get other teams to do work for them, in a scalable way that encourages good relationships with other teams.
- [How to avoid being a bottleneck leader](https://www.rubick.com/bottleneck-leaders/index.md): How to remove yourself from being a bottleneck as a leader
- [How to be an information flow superhero](https://www.rubick.com/infobits-for-information-flow/index.md): Describes a technique you can use to improve information flow with the people around you.
- [How to build silos and decrease collaboration (on purpose)](https://www.rubick.com/how-to-build-silos-and-decrease-collaboration/index.md): Although counter-intuitive, it can be beneficial to build silos and decrease collaboration between teams. Balance the need for collaboration, coordination, and communication with these tips.
- [How to develop a sixth sense for the long-term](https://www.rubick.com/long-term-sense/index.md): We talk about some simple techniques to judge the long term trends of a situation.
- [How to implement Mini-M support groups](https://www.rubick.com/implementing-mini-m-support-groups/index.md): A Mini-M is a group of managers that meet weekly or biweekly. The meeting is a combination support group and working session. I describe implementing Mini-Ms
- [How to not screw up your product strategy](https://www.rubick.com/product-strategy/index.md): An overview of common mistakes people make while developing a product strategy, tips for creating a successful strategy, and how to communicate and execute on a product strategy.
- [How to reason about reliability risk](https://www.rubick.com/risk-matrix/index.md): Outlines an approach to reasoning about reliability risk
- [How to refactor meetings as they grow with the rule of eight](https://www.rubick.com/the-rule-of-eight-for-strong-decision-making-meetings/index.md): As meetings grow in size they become less effective. Discover how the rule of eight can help you refactor meetings as they grow.
- [How to think about span of control](https://www.rubick.com/span-of-control/index.md): Understand the tradeoffs of team size and span of control for managers
- [If you want a good company culture, focus on equity](https://www.rubick.com/equity-benefits-everyone/index.md): Under-represented minority groups are the best leading indicator of company culture. Describes why this is the case, and links to posts on how to improve.
- [If you want to be a terrible manager, focus on being a shit shield](https://www.rubick.com/shit-shield/index.md): For managers, viewing your role as a shit shield is one of the most common early mistakes. Learn the dangers of being a shit shield, and what to do instead.
- [Implementing Amazon’s single threaded owner model a retrospective](https://www.rubick.com/implementing-amazons-single-threaded-owner-model/index.md): A Single Threaded Owner (STO), is a single leader that is completely responsible for their area of the product. I share my experiences implementing this model, including the tradeoffs and challenges. And I give the nuts and bolts of how we implemented it and what we learned.
- [Implementing promotion bias checks](https://www.rubick.com/implementing-promotion-bias-checks/index.md): One of the most bias-prone activities in companies is promotions. Describes some techniques to give you real-time feedback on bias to help you make better promotion decisions.
- [Implementing software engineering levels (with fully-usable examples)](https://www.rubick.com/engineering-levels/index.md): Jade shares example engineering levels, that you can use to craft engineering levels at your company.
- [Increase your impact with upstream thinking](https://www.rubick.com/increase-your-impact-with-upstream-thinking/index.md): Upstream thinking helps you prevent future problems. Describes the patterns behind this style of thinking and how to identify what blocks it.
- [Leaders make their own problems](https://www.rubick.com/leaders-make-their-own-problems/index.md): One of the key things that makes leaders effective is the ability to orient themselves. Leaders make their own problems. This post shares how to do that.
- [Learn the weekly rituals you should master as a software project manager](https://www.rubick.com/project-manager-weekly-rituals/index.md): Learn the nuts and bolts of project management for software projects, with the things you should do every week: update your project plan, review your risk registry, and send a project update
- [Liaison - the spy you’ll love to send to other teams](https://www.rubick.com/liaison-model/index.md): Liaisons are a good coordination model to use when you need people to have better context with other parts of the organization. Learn more about how to apply this pattern.
- [Macho leadership and bro culture](https://www.rubick.com/macho-leadership-and-bro-culture/index.md): We explore macho leadership and bro culture, how to identify and respond to them, the risks they pose, and techniques for navigating these environments.
- [Make changes that people will embrace](https://www.rubick.com/make-changes-easy/index.md): How managers can make changes that people will embrace.
- [Make your team miserable with one of these popular project-management anti-patterns](https://www.rubick.com/three-anti-patterns-for-project-management/index.md): Three anti-patterns are ubiquitous: task treadmill, million-meeting agile, and Gantt-aholic project management. Describes them and links to better alternatives.
- [Managing a bottleneck team](https://www.rubick.com/bottleneck-team/index.md): Feel like your team is the bottleneck? Learn how to address the challenges of managing a bottleneck team.
- [Managing features and releases without a developer in the room](https://www.rubick.com/managing-features-and-releases-without-a-developer-in-the-room/index.md): The benefits of feature flags, and a description of a system that allowed for releases without any engineers present
- [Massively multiplayer retrospectives](https://www.rubick.com/massively-multiplayer-retrospectives/index.md): How to run a massively multiplayer retrospective
- [No-bullshit tenets for faster decision-making](https://www.rubick.com/tenets-for-faster-decisionmaking/index.md): Tenets are a powerful tool to speed up the decision-making of an organization. Stop rehashing the same disucussions and provide better context for decisions with tenets.
- [Organizational danger zones](https://www.rubick.com/organizational-danger-zones/index.md): Organizations have two danger zones they go through as they grow. I describe when they happen, what to watch out for, and how to solve them.
- [Organizational work and the second job](https://www.rubick.com/organizational-work-second-job/index.md): Organizational work is how to make an organization get better over time, instead of the opposite.
- [Piles point out your problems aka why your AI coding is slowing things down](https://www.rubick.com/piles/index.md): Piles can be a sign of where your problems are. The theory of constraints and why piles are important.
- [Product management resources](https://www.rubick.com/product-management-resources/index.md): I share some resources for product managers.
- [Reducing dependencies](https://www.rubick.com/reducing-dependencies/index.md): At a certain size, organizational dependencies will kill you. Here's a menu of options to fix it.
- [Reflecting power - using power you don’t have](https://www.rubick.com/reflecting-power/index.md): I talk about the concept of reflecting power, which is leveraging other people's power and authority.
- [Reliability is all stick, no carrot](https://www.rubick.com/reliability-all-stick-no-carrot/index.md): The reliability space is all stick, no carrot. Here are some ways to produce good results anyway
- [Rethink your hiring strategy to stand out and delight the best candidates](https://www.rubick.com/creating-a-hiring-strategy/index.md): Practical questions to guide you to a strong answer to the question: 'why should anybody want to work at your company?'
- [Scale platform teams with the best approach for platform teams - self-service](https://www.rubick.com/platform-teams-and-the-self-service-model/index.md): Self-service is one of the most powerful patterns for decoupling engineering teams from each other, and preventing an engineering organizatino from slowing down. This post describes self service and how to move to it.
- [Should platform teams deprecate or does that cause massive problems?](https://www.rubick.com/should-platform-teams-deprecate/index.md): Deprecation is a common thing with platform technologies: libraries, APIs, and components. But it causes huge problems. This outlines the hidden costs of deprecation and suggests other ways to handle deprecation.
- [Should QA exist](https://www.rubick.com/should-qa-exist/index.md): There are a lot of challenges in the way QA and engineering work together. Many eng leaders think you shouldn't have QA. I dig in.
- [Solving cross-team priorities with a Product Council - an experience report](https://www.rubick.com/product-council/index.md): Jade shares an experience report on the use of a Product Council to solve executive alignment on product direction, and cross-team execution challenges.
- [Some AI surprises in late 2025](https://www.rubick.com/ai-surprises-2025/index.md): Jade shares some observations of things he is seeing that seem unusual or aren't being talked about
- [Some shoulds for strategy](https://www.rubick.com/strategy-shoulds/index.md): Jade shares some observations of what you need in good strategies.
- [Steel threads are a technique that will make you a better engineer](https://www.rubick.com/steel-threads/index.md): Steel Threads are a powerful but obscure software design approach. Learning about Steel Threads will make you a better engineer. You can use them to avoid common problems like integration pain. And you can use them to cut through the complexity of system design.
- [Strategy pitfalls (on the Level Up podcast)](https://www.rubick.com/product-strategy-podcast/index.md): I was interviewed on the Level Up podcast. This is a summary of that interview.
- [Tactical advice for building effective eng teams, anti-patterns to avoid (Snack bites podcast)](https://www.rubick.com/interview-software-snack-bites/index.md): I was interviewed for the Software Snack Bites podcast. This is a summary of that interview.
- [Task Forces can solve (some of) your cross-functional challenges](https://www.rubick.com/task-forces/index.md): We talk through how to use a task force to cut through thorny cross-functional challenges.
- [The best approach I’ve seen for hiring junior engineers](https://www.rubick.com/hiring-new-engineers/index.md): I share a wonderful writeup by John Hyland on the best program I've ever seen for hiring junior engineers
- [The Campsite Rule](https://www.rubick.com/campsite-rule/index.md): Leave it better than you found it: the campsite rule for engineering teams and organizations
- [The danger of fan out work](https://www.rubick.com/fan-out-work/index.md): Fan out work spreads tasks across many teams, leading to hidden, externalized costs and poor incentives. We explore the issue and potential solutions.
- [The dangers of unreliable platforms (on the SRE Path podcast)](https://www.rubick.com/interview-sre-path/index.md): I was interviewed for the SRE Path podcast. This is a summary of that interview.
- [The executive loop](https://www.rubick.com/the-executive-loop/index.md): The simple loop executives use
- [The ratchet](https://www.rubick.com/the-ratchet/index.md): A ratchet is a tool that only goes in one direction. We explore using this technique for leadership problems.
- [The secret to holding a candidate review meeting that isn’t boring as hell](https://www.rubick.com/candidate-review-meeting/index.md): Avoid the typical boring candidate review meeting, where everyone summarizes their feedback. Instead, use this surprisingly effective approach!
- [The trendy leadership trend that is trending](https://www.rubick.com/trend-test/index.md): A simple way to survey where you are heading and what to do about it
- [The ultimate playbook for hiring engineering managers - a step-by-step guide](https://www.rubick.com/interviewing-engineering-managers/index.md): I share a complete guide to how to hire engineering managers, including a sample interview plan
- [Tiny Thursdays](https://www.rubick.com/tiny-thursdays/index.md): How to prioritize lots of small things FTW
- [Tools to make your organization better](https://www.rubick.com/tools-to-make-your-organization-better/index.md): Review of tools to make startups more effective
- [Unusual tips to keep Slack from becoming a nightmare](https://www.rubick.com/unusual-tips-to-keep-slack-from-becoming-a-nightmare/index.md): Use the tips to improve your org's use of Slack: answers to questions should take longer than the time to look it up, notifications should go to a few people, the more people in a room, the more structured it should be. Plus a few more.
- [Uplevel your managers with Mini-M support groups](https://www.rubick.com/mini-m-support-groups/index.md): A Mini-M is a group of managers that meet weekly or biweekly. The meeting is a combination support group and working session. I describe the practice.
- [Use a candidate packet to improve your interview process](https://www.rubick.com/candidate-packet-for-interviews/index.md): Improve your hiring by using a candidate packet. Help candidates understand the company, position, and hiring process.
- [Use holiday focus days to increase company focus and honor your team’s diversity](https://www.rubick.com/use-holiday-focus-days-to-increase-company-focus-and-honor-your-teams-diversity/index.md): Describes a novel approach to company holidays which improves company focus, and makes it easier for people to take vacation on less common holidays.
- [Use OKRs to drive equity](https://www.rubick.com/use-okrs-to-drive-equity/index.md): If you want to see results, make someone accountable to it. Describes how we used OKRs to improve equity.
- [Use these tips to improve your executive presence](https://www.rubick.com/executive-presence-coaching/index.md): Thirteen tips for improving your executive presence.
- [Using a DSLR for video conferencing](https://www.rubick.com/using-a-dslr-for-video-conferencing/index.md): You can dramatically improve your videoconferencing using a DSLR camera. This guide explains how I set it up and some of the challenges I face.
- [Variations for Mini-M management support groups](https://www.rubick.com/mini-m-variations/index.md): A Mini-M is a group of managers that meet weekly or biweekly. The meeting is a combination support group and working session. I describe variations on the practice.
- [Velocity role 1 - the Subtractionist](https://www.rubick.com/velocity-role-subtractionist/index.md): This post explores an archetype that makes teams faster -- the Subtractionist. They simplify everything.
- [Velocity role 2 - the Mole](https://www.rubick.com/velocity-role-mole/index.md): This post explores an archetype that makes teams faster -- the Mole. They give you intel.
- [Velocity role 3 - the Dodger](https://www.rubick.com/velocity-role-dodger/index.md): This post explores an archetype that makes teams faster -- the Dodger. They dodge obstacles.
- [Velocity role 4 - the Nowist](https://www.rubick.com/velocity-role-nowist/index.md): This post explores an archetype that makes teams faster -- the Nowist. They move everything towards the present.
- [What can air combat teach us about software project failure?](https://www.rubick.com/engineering-leaders-should-obsess-over-feedback-loops/index.md): Describes the impact of OODA loops and feedback cycles on engineering organizations.
- [What do great engineering managers need to know about compensation and equity?](https://www.rubick.com/compensation-and-equity/index.md): Understanding how companies go about figuring out compensation. And an exercise to do for your team.
- [What tools to use for an engineering handbook](https://www.rubick.com/engineering-handbook-tools/index.md): Reviews the various tools you can use for an engineering handbook and process documentation in general.
- [Why and how to do skip level 1-1s](https://www.rubick.com/skip-level-1-on-1s/index.md): I share what I've learned about doing skip level 1-1s.
- [Why are process gates the hellish spawn of evil you should avoid at all cost?](https://www.rubick.com/process-gates-of-hell/index.md): Describes the process gates, a common management trap. Managers use them to fix situations, but they often have the opposite of intended effect. Describes alternatives to process gates.
- [Why is engineering slowing down? How leaders can create happy teams and good results in chaos](https://www.rubick.com/managing-complexity/index.md): Leadership is a race between complexity and leadership. Describes the principles behind creating humane, effective organizations in growing software startups.
- [Wonderful hiring practices that for some reason aren’t more common](https://www.rubick.com/startup-hiring-and-recruiting/index.md): Distills everything I've learned from decades of hiring, from the nuts and bolts of how to run a good hiring process, to some novel techniques for standing out and go faster than your competition.
- [Working together is the best -- the guide to happy embedding](https://www.rubick.com/embedded-model/index.md): Embedded team members report to a central manager, but work on another team full time. This describes the ins and outs of successful embedding, and why it can be such a useful coordination model.
- [Write compelling and unbiased job descriptions](https://www.rubick.com/write-compelling-and-unbiased-job-descriptions/index.md): Most job descriptions are boring. Write job descriptions that engage your candidates and design them to be more useful and inclusive with this guide. Includes links ot helpful tools.
- [Written culture is higher leverage](https://www.rubick.com/written-culture/index.md): A written culture is higher leverage than it used to be.
- [Yes you can measure engineering velocity (and AI impact)](https://www.rubick.com/valuesum-metric/index.md): Jade shares how he likes to measure the value delivery of engineering organizations using the ValueSum metric.
- [Your hiring process is too slow -- speed it up with these five tips](https://www.rubick.com/how-to-speed-up-hiring/index.md): The easiest way to improve your hiring is to speed it up. Here's how: use an SLA, reduce steps, use schedule blocks, present instant offers, and use a modified rolling approach.
- [Your process should be open source](https://www.rubick.com/engineering-handbook/index.md): Engineering handbooks can be done in an open-source manner, which allows process to adapt quickly to the needs of an organization.
- [Your team may need a Hero Rotation](https://www.rubick.com/hero-rotation/index.md): Why your engineering team may need a hero rotation to combine focus and responsiveness

## Wiki

- [Business](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/business/index.md): Resources and insights about business strategy, finance, and operations
- [Acquisitions](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/business/acquisitions/index.md): Guidance and resources for mergers and acquisitions
- [Finance](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/business/finance/index.md): Financial planning, accounting, and business finance topics
- [Going international](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/business/i18n/index.md): Taking the business international.
- [Venture capital](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/business/venture-capital/index.md): Venture capital, fundraising, and startup investment resources
- [Career Development](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/index.md): Career growth, leadership development, and professional advancement
- [Executive coaches](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/coaches/index.md): Executive coaches, advisors, and how to find career mentorship
- [Leadership conferences](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/conferences/index.md): Conferences dealing with leadership topics
- [CTO](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/cto/index.md): CTO archetypes and roles in technology leadership
- [Growing into director plus roles](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/director-plus/index.md): Transitioning to director+ roles and learning business context
- [Executive search firms](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/executive-search-firms/index.md): Executive search firms for technology leadership roles
- [First 90 days](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/first-90-days/index.md): Strategies and advice for the first 90 days in a new leadership role
- [Exit/Leaving a company](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/leaving/index.md): Guidelines for leaving a company and managing equity options
- [Lonely at the top](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/lonely-at-the-top/index.md): Dealing with executive isolation and building support networks
- [Meaning](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/meaning/index.md): Finding meaning and motivation in technology leadership careers
- [Interviewing and negotiating for a VPE role](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/negotiation/index.md): Negotiation strategies, equity terms, and interview advice for VPE roles
- [Engineering leader salaries](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/salaries/index.md): Salary information and equity compensation for engineering leaders
- [Searching for a job](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/career/search/index.md): How to look for a job
- [People Management](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/index.md): Team management, hiring, performance, and organizational development
- [Bonus programs](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/bonus-programs/index.md): Different types of bonus programs and their tradeoffs
- [Coaching and developing people](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/coaching/index.md): Resources for coaching and developing high-performing team members
- [Communications and comms](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/communications/index.md): Communication plans and how to communicate well
- [Company values](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/company-values/index.md): Creating meaningful company values and decision-making tenets
- [Data teams](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/data-teams/index.md): Building and leading data teams and analytics functions
- [Decision-making](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/decision-making/index.md): Models and frameworks for effective decision-making in teams and organizations
- [Diversity equity and inclusion](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/dei/index.md): Resources and strategies for building inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplaces
- [Engineering levels](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/engineering-levels/index.md): Career ladders and level frameworks for engineering roles
- [Engineering manager levels](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/engineering-manager-levels/index.md): Career progression frameworks and ladders for engineering management roles
- [Equity and option grants](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/equity/index.md): Frameworks for sizing option grants, refresh grants, and equity compensation
- [Team gift ideas](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/gift-ideas/index.md): Creative ideas for team rewards, recognition gifts, and team celebrations
- [Glassdoor](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/glassdoor/index.md): Understanding how companies manipulate Glassdoor reviews and ratings
- [Growth teams](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/growth-teams/index.md): Resources for building and hiring your first growth team
- [Interview process](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/interview-process/index.md): Best practices for interviewing, candidate review meetings, and bias reduction tools
- [Information technology and security](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/it-and-security/index.md): IT and security reporting structures, admin access policies, and organizational placement
- [Managing up](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/managing-up/index.md): Strategies for effectively working with and influencing your manager
- [Nine boxes - Performance, Potential](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/nine-box/index.md): 3x3 grid tool for evaluating employee performance and potential during talent reviews
- [Onboarding](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/onboarding/index.md): Programs, software, and strategies for effective employee onboarding processes
- [1:1 Meetings](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/one-on-ones/index.md): Comprehensive guide to conducting effective one-on-one meetings with direct reports
- [Org planning](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/org-planning/index.md): Headcount and AI, Organizational design, power structures, and frameworks for scaling team structures
- [Performance management](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/performance-management/index.md): Framework and resources for effective performance management processes
- [Product management levels](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/product-manager-levels/index.md): Career ladders, paths, and compensation frameworks for product management roles
- [Recruiting](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/recruiting/index.md): LinkedIn mining, recruitment process outsourcing, and building company brand for hiring
- [Remote work](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/remote-work/index.md): Remote work effectiveness, global team tools, and distributed workforce management
- [Retention](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/retention/index.md): Tools and frameworks for analyzing and improving employee retention
- [RIFs (reduction in forces) and layoffs](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/rif/index.md): Lessons and best practices for managing layoffs and workforce reductions
- [Salaries for engineering and product](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/salaries/index.md): Compensation data, pay equity implementation, and salary benchmarking tools
- [Span of control](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/span-of-control/index.md): Tradeoffs between span of control and org depth
- [Staff augmentation](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/staff-augmentation/index.md): Recommended companies for outsourcing and staff augmentation services
- [Trust](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/trainings/index.md): Topics about trust
- [Trainings](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/trust/index.md): Management training programs and executive presence coaching resources
- [Processes & Methodology](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/index.md): Development processes, methodologies, and operational frameworks
- [AI policy](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/ai/index.md): Policy around AI use
- [Business reviews](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/business-reviews/index.md): Framework and structure for conducting regular business reviews with executive summaries, metrics, and forward-looking insights.
- [Capitalizing software costs](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/capitalizing-software-costs/index.md): Understanding software cost capitalization rules, tax implications, and the impact of Section 174 on tech company finances.
- [CI/CD (continuous integration, continuous deployment)](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/cicd/index.md): The practice of continously integrating and deploying code to production
- [Company handbooks](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/company-handbooks/index.md): Resources and approaches for open-sourcing company processes and creating transparent engineering handbooks.
- [Coordination](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/coordination/index.md): Resources and models for organizational coordination, including slime mold comparisons and practical coordination frameworks.
- [Engineering All Hands](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/engineering-all-hands/index.md): Best practices for conducting effective engineering all-hands meetings, including topics, formats, and Q&A strategies.
- [Engineering strategy](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/engineering-strategy/index.md): Frameworks for developing engineering strategy, including problem-solving approaches and aligning with product strategy.
- [Fluid Scaling Technology (FaST)](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/fast/index.md): Overview of FaST agile methodology focusing on collective self-organization, visual goal representation, and short sync cycles.
- [OKRs and goal setting](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/goal-setting/index.md): Resources for goal frameworks including OKRs, W Framework, and alternative approaches to objective setting and measurement.
- [Metrics](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/metrics/index.md): Guidance on engineering productivity metrics, board reporting, and approaches to measuring individual and organizational performance.
- [Mob programming](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/mob-programming/index.md): Survey results and best practices for effective mob programming, including when to use it and ground rules for success.
- [Company and departmental planning](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/planning/index.md): Resources and guidance for engineering executive planning at company and departmental levels.
- [Prioritization](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/prioritization/index.md): Frameworks and approaches for project prioritization including economic modeling, DRICE methodology, and Black Swan Farming.
- [Process planning](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/process-planning/index.md): Strategic approaches to mapping and planning your company's year-long processes and organizational rhythms.
- [Pull requests, branching, git](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/pull-requests/index.md): Best practices for pull request size, git strategies, and code review workflows including trunk-based vs git flow approaches.
- [Reliability](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/reliability/index.md): Resources for building reliable systems including on-call best practices, incident management, and customer communication strategies.
- [Scaled agile framework (SAFe)](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/safe/index.md): Critical analysis of SAFe methodology, survey results on its appropriateness in startups, and resources on its limitations.
- [Shape Up](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/shape-up/index.md): Comprehensive overview of Basecamp's Shape Up methodology including six-week cycles, shaping, betting, and scope management techniques.
- [SOC2](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/soc2/index.md): SOC2 compliance including automated platform comparisons, pricing, and auditor considerations.
- [Spotify model](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/spotify-model/index.md): Overview of the functional and matrix organizational structure known as the Spotify model, including variations and adaptations.
- [Unusual work cultures](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/process/unusual/index.md): Examples of unconventional work cultures and organizational approaches, including no meetings, no deadlines, and flexible employment models.
- [Product Management](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/product/index.md): Product strategy, management, and development insights
- [Advice for (new) head of product](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/product/head-of-product/index.md): Essential first 90 days guidance and key responsibilities for new head of product roles, including stakeholder management and strategic direction setting.
- [Pricing](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/product/pricing/index.md): Resources and guides for doing SaaS pricing.
- [Prioritization](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/product/prioritization/index.md): Prioritization stuff
- [Project Management](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/projects/index.md): Project planning, execution, and delivery methodologies
- [Project status updates](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/projects/project-management/index.md): Writing best practices for effective project status communications, inspired by presidential daily brief techniques.
- [Project plans](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/projects/project-plans/index.md): Weekly project planning methodology and project management approaches for effective execution and tracking.
- [Value stream](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/projects/value-stream/index.md): Understanding flow and value delivery in software development processes and organizational efficiency.
- [Technology](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tech/index.md): Technical insights, tools, and emerging technologies
- [AI coding](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tech/ai-coding/index.md): AI-powered development tools, workflows, and best practices for augmented coding with Claude Code, Cursor, and other AI assistants.
- [Search](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tech/search/index.md): Modern search options
- [Tools & Platforms](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/index.md): Development tools, platforms, and vendor evaluations
- [AI tooling](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/ai/index.md): Tools that take advantage of AI
- [Code review](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/code-review/index.md): Code review tooling including AI tooling
- [In-product feature announcements and surveys](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/feature-csat/index.md): Tools and platforms for in-product user surveys, feature announcements, CSAT measurements, and user onboarding flows.
- [Feature flags](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/feature-flags/index.md): Feature flag platforms and vendors including LaunchDarkly, DevCycle, and PostHog for controlled feature rollouts and experimentation.
- [Open source license verification](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/licenses/index.md): Tools for automated license verification
- [Metrics tooling](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/metrics/index.md): Engineering metrics and measurement tools including DORA metrics, SonarQube code quality analysis, and Core4 framework insights.
- [Vendor management and negotiations](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/tools/vendors/index.md): Best practices for managing vendor relationships, negotiation strategies, and working effectively with procurement teams.

## Optional

- [Sitemap](https://www.rubick.com/sitemap-index.xml): every URL on the site