Since joining Imprint a bit over six months ago as the CTO of a ~50 engineer team,
I’ve merged 104 pull requests, which is slightly over four per week. Many of them are very minimal
configuration and documentation tweaks, and none were the hardest or even most time-sensitive task available
at any given time; I’m much more of a pull request scavenger finding opportunities that don’t
disrupt the operating teams’ rhythms.

Lethain, authored by Will Larson, offers a unique perspective on engineering management, leadership, and organizational dynamics. Developers and engineering leaders can explore topics such as team building, career growth, and organizational design, gaining insights into building high-impact engineering organizations. With thoughtful reflections and actionable advice, Lethain serves as a resource for those navigating the complexities of engineering leadership.

Irrational Exuberance

A CTO reflects on returning to hands-on coding after a decade in management roles. The author discusses how AI tools like Claude Code have reduced the time commitment needed to contribute meaningful code, enabling managers to write software in small time pockets between meetings. Key insights include strategies for selecting appropriate projects that add value without disrupting team workflows, the importance of maintaining codebase understanding, and practical rules for manager coding such as avoiding time-sensitive work and holding oneself to higher standards for code quality and bug fixes.

Coding at work (after a decade away).

Dubious return-on-effort of manager coding

Finding small pockets of time to write software