The hottest Management Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

The "Macros" for healthy engineering teams - part 3: Fats

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 19 implied HN points • 17 Apr 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Strategic thinking is like 'good fat' for engineering teams, helping them store energy and prepare for future challenges. It keeps teams motivated and focused on long-term success.
  2. Technical debt is considered 'bad fat' that can lead to inefficiencies and low morale. Just like bad fats in the diet, if ignored, it can cause serious problems down the line.
  3. Engineering leaders should encourage their teams to develop strategies that address technical debt, ensuring ongoing productivity and health for the team and the software they produce.

The 3 top mistakes of managers under 30

Leading Developers • 103 implied HN points • 17 Dec 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Young managers often worry about their age and try too hard to prove themselves. It's better to ignore age and focus on maturity and confidence.
  2. Trying too hard to be liked can backfire. It's important to give honest feedback and set clear expectations without being overly apologetic.
  3. Making quick decisions can be risky. It's wise to consult team members, especially those with more experience, before deciding on important matters.

Intellectual Laziness

MD&A • 404 implied HN points • 04 Jul 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Intellectual laziness can lead to catastrophic corporate failures, as seen in the case of GE and SVB.
  2. Managers who prioritize manipulating short-term earnings over creating long-term shareholder value are intellectually lazy.
  3. Intellectual rigor is essential in identifying underrated managers and avoiding overrated ones.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Giving Feedback

Build To Scale • 39 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Feedback should be timely, specific, and actionable to help someone improve.
  2. Good managers teach employees best practices in their field, emphasizing long-term success over quick fixes.
  3. Deliver feedback with kindness and the goal of helping someone grow, erring on over-communication to ensure clarity and development.

You don't need more code. You need more business impact. | Thoughtworks' Chris Westerhold

Dev Interrupted • 32 implied HN points • 15 Jul 25
💼 Business Management
  1. Focus on business impact instead of just adding more code. It's important to ensure that your efforts are aligned with real business goals.
  2. Most problems in engineering come from people and processes, not technology. A better approach is to use systems thinking to improve efficiency.
  3. Developers are now using AI tools to save time and enhance their work. This change is helping them focus more on quality and collaboration.

Addressing the challenges of partially distributed engineering teams

It Depends / Nimble Autonomy • 19 implied HN points • 07 Apr 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Partially distributed teams face communication issues because some team members are in the office while others are remote. This can lead to misunderstandings and feelings of isolation for those not present.
  2. Visibility is important in a team; if members are not seen often, their work may be overlooked during reviews and recognition. It's crucial for managers to be aware of everyone's contributions, regardless of where they work.
  3. Creating clear expectations around availability and encouraging informal conversations can help build better relationships within the team. Taking time to connect as people makes working together easier.

Using fake deadlines without driving your engineers crazy

Leading Developers • 98 implied HN points • 10 Dec 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Setting deadlines helps teams focus and improve productivity. When there’s a finish line, people are more likely to get things done quickly.
  2. Involve your team in setting deadlines to avoid frustration. If they help decide what's realistic, they'll feel more committed to meeting the goal.
  3. It's okay to be flexible with deadlines. Sometimes things change, and what's important is clear communication with the team about any adjustments.

"I don't want to do our cheat way of getting 12 objectives by bundling everything under three things"

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 4 HN points • 23 Jul 24
💼 Business Management
  1. It's really hard to focus on just three priorities because teams often want to tackle too many things at once. Picking fewer goals helps you actually get more done.
  2. Organizations keep adding new projects and ideas without removing old ones, which creates overload. It's important to occasionally remove tasks or projects to avoid burnout.
  3. Having too many ideas can slow down progress, so it’s essential to have a way to filter them. Voting or aligning them with key priorities helps decide which ideas to pursue.

How we built a business out of recession - chapter 53 - we've only gone and done it

The ZIPster • 35 implied HN points • 04 Jul 25
💼 Business Management
  1. CitNOW started at a kitchen table and grew into a successful company, showcasing how a small idea can turn into something big.
  2. After years of hard work, the founders sold the company in 2018, marking an important milestone in their journey.
  3. The experience of selling the company was surreal and emotional, reminding them of how far they had come together.

Participatory Capitalism

Rethinking Software • 99 implied HN points • 24 Nov 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Many workers struggle to make ends meet while business owners and entrepreneurs often gain wealth and freedom. This gap shows that capitalism isn't working equally for everyone.
  2. Imagine creating small business environments within big companies where employees can act like owners. This could help employees gain wealth without facing the full risks of starting their own businesses.
  3. We should focus on supporting companies that empower their workers and create employee-owners. A better capitalism means more people directly benefiting from their work.

Are hotdesks always hellish?

Make Work Better • 103 implied HN points • 14 Nov 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Most companies use their office space less than three days a week and are planning to reduce their office size in the near future. This change is a response to new work habits formed during the pandemic.
  2. Employees can be happy with hotdesks, but it's crucial to have a variety of workspaces available. A diverse range of settings helps them feel productive and satisfied.
  3. Some workers struggle more than others in hotdesk environments, indicating that not everyone adapts the same way. Companies should consider individual needs, like having good booking systems for personal spaces.

How To Lose Customers & Alienate People

Build To Scale • 59 implied HN points • 26 Sep 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Talk to customers and employees, but don't bother listening. Just talk about your vision and plans without engaging in meaningful conversations.
  2. Don't shy away from bad news and blame it on employees. Overreact publicly, especially to junior staff, to discourage them from sharing any negative news.
  3. Focus on competitors, raise money, surround yourself with yes-men, disregard customer needs, and prioritize optics over actual performance if you want to lose touch with your business and alienate people.

Collective Creativity

The Intersection • 59 implied HN points • 27 Sep 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Establish a common purpose for the company to align everyone's efforts.
  2. Foster a culture of debate to encourage creative tension and diverse perspectives.
  3. Value expertise within the team and highlight the importance of individual skills coming together for collective creativity.

How To Run An Offsite

Build To Scale • 59 implied HN points • 03 Oct 23
💼 Business Management
  1. An effective offsite meeting should have a clear purpose, such as planning for strategic changes, setting priorities, or working on challenging problems creatively.
  2. Include the next-level up-and-coming leaders in executive offsite meetings to have a broader impact and develop managerial talent.
  3. To tackle hard problems, gather a diverse group of people from different areas within the company to brainstorm solutions, as fresh perspectives can lead to creative breakthroughs.

Compensation for Startups: Implementing and “Defending” Your Compensation System

Lessons • 58 implied HN points • 05 Aug 23
💼 Business Management
  1. When implementing a compensation system for startups, focus on simplicity to ensure sustainability.
  2. Establish centralized control to maintain the integrity of the system and avoid potential errors.
  3. Key steps for initial implementation include creating/updating leveling system, designing compensation philosophy, and mapping employees to new levels and bands.

Idealizing leadership

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 58 implied HN points • 20 Mar 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Idealizing leadership can lead to misconceptions about the role and its challenges.
  2. Leadership involves navigating ambiguity and making difficult decisions.
  3. Realistic discussions about leadership help bridge the gap between perception and reality.

Navigating the Director Sandwich

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 58 implied HN points • 15 May 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Navigating the role of a director involves managing expectations and aligning teams while leading through others.
  2. Transitioning into a director role means moving away from detailed work and learning to delegate effectively.
  3. Building trust is crucial in a director role, both within the team and across the organization, to achieve results and develop future leaders.

Steps to Strategy

Seth’s Substack • 58 implied HN points • 03 Apr 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Make time for big picture thinking and strategy in your leadership role.
  2. Remember to prioritize self-care to be more effective in your strategic work.
  3. Consider specific prompts like wish lists and worry lists to guide your strategic planning.

The misguided yearning for a better plan

Wednesday Wisdom • 104 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Having a better plan isn't the solution; it's all about how well you execute the plan you have. Good results come from good execution, not just a fancy plan.
  2. Many people look for secret techniques to improve, but the truth is that everyone knows what to do. The problem is usually that they just aren't doing it well.
  3. Instead of searching high and low for a better plan, focus on improving how you do what you're already doing. Making small changes in execution can lead to big improvements.

The art of letting go as a manager | Transcend’s Minh Nguyen

Dev Interrupted • 23 implied HN points • 12 Aug 25
💼 Business Management
  1. As a manager, it's tough to stop thinking 'I'll do it myself.' Learning to delegate helps everyone grow and makes the team stronger.
  2. Building teams around customer problems is smarter than just focusing on tech. It helps to create more effective and focused teams.
  3. Creating a 'ramblings' channel for remote teams can boost connection and creativity, making it easier for team members to share ideas.

Failure as a Feature, Not a Bug

Perspectives • 6 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
💼 Business Management
  1. Failure is a necessary tool for growth and staying competitive, so take smart risks and treat setbacks as learning opportunities.
  2. Leaders should model vulnerability and normalize failure so their teams feel safe to experiment and innovate.
  3. Build simple habits—start with small bets, separate your identity from outcomes, create external accountability, and run blameless reflections and stories to capture learnings.

Why your manager sucks [Finance Fridays]

Technology Made Simple • 99 implied HN points • 12 Nov 22
💼 Business Management
  1. The Dilbert Principle explains how incompetent employees may be promoted to management to get them out of the way.
  2. The Invisible Man Principle highlights how mediocre employees may end up in important projects when all the top performers are busy with other tasks.
  3. The Peter Principle shows that competent workers may be promoted until they reach a role where they struggle, impacting their career progression.

How The NBA's New Salary Cap Actually Works (and why Adam Silver changed it)

Huddle Up • 28 implied HN points • 14 Jul 25
🎾 Sports Management
  1. The NBA has introduced new salary cap rules to promote competition and make it harder for any team to dominate for multiple years.
  2. With these changes, teams must be more careful when building their rosters, as there's less room for error.
  3. This has already impacted teams like the Boston Celtics, who had to significantly change their roster just a year after winning the championship.

How we increased execution by 10x at Coda | Oliver Heckmann - Head of Engineering at Coda

platocommunity • 39 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Cutting down planning time to 10% allows for better focus and higher quality plans, leading to increased execution speed.
  2. Bridging the Planning-Execution Canyon by synchronizing OKRs in planning and execution documents improves insight, accountability, and progress tracking.
  3. Creating centralized Team Hubs with all important information in one place reduces information silos, fosters transparency, and promotes unified teamwork.

Hidden Tasks of Product Management

Sarah's Newsletter • 159 implied HN points • 28 Jun 22
💼 Business Management
  1. Product managers should oversee their company’s offering like any manager oversees people.
  2. Being data-driven is crucial for product managers. They need to question data, consider various types of data, and course correct based on data-driven decisions.
  3. Product managers play a critical role in owning quality assurance and getting stakeholder buy-in for successful product launches.

Tips for managing your startup's cash

Startup Real Talk • 194 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
💼 Business Management
  1. The main goals for managing startup cash are capital preservation, liquidity, and income in that order.
  2. Keeping startup cash in a startup-friendly primary account and a secondary operating account is recommended.
  3. Investing the remaining cash in Treasury bills is a safe strategy, and it's important not to chase yield with riskier investment products.

Lessons For Startup Founders From A TPM

Building Rome(s) • 5 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
💼 Business Management
  1. Keep clarity even when the future is uncertain: set a simple vision, tactical goals, timeframes, and clear owners so the team can scale without heavyweight process.
  2. Prioritize ruthlessly and learn to say no; using a “no log” helps the team see what you intentionally set aside and keeps focus on what matters.
  3. Build minimal, evolving systems that prevent chaos and surface hidden work—use a single roadmap, release-based planning, regular demos, decision logs, and launch checklists to make dependencies and debt visible.