Ship Then Fix

Lead

About this shelf

The code can be “fine” while the org still bleeds. Lead is for tech leads and seniors who already know that.

What’s here is the job around the code — stakeholders, direction, decision artifacts, debt as carry cost, the meeting where everyone wants a slogan and someone has to make a call. Trade-offs you can defend in status. Not leadership-book summaries. Not “empower the team” posters with no mechanism underneath.

Generic management theater doesn’t ship. Neither does architecture cosplay that never touches delivery. If the hard part is getting a decision to stick — and staying accountable for it — start with what the tech lead job actually is.

Start with the picks. Then filter the grid when you want footing vs mastery altitude.

Start here

  1. What Tech Leads Actually Do (It's Not Architecture)

    What the job actually is when architecture isn’t the whole story.

  2. ADRs Nobody Reads (And How to Fix That)

    Decision records that survive contact with a busy team.

  3. The Rewrite Decision

    A rewrite frame that isn’t vibes versus fear.

  4. Stop Measuring Technical Debt. Start Pricing It.

    Debt as carry cost — not a guilt metric.

LeadDoing

The Rewrite Decision

Whether you rewrite or refactor is a bet you're asking a room to fund — and most of us pitch it like it's a matter of taste.

8 min · July 3, 2026