Dave Paola — WritingEssays on engineering leadership, management, and building.https://davepaola.com/Stop parallelizing your AI agentshttps://davepaola.com/writing/stop-parallelizing-your-ai-agents/https://davepaola.com/writing/stop-parallelizing-your-ai-agents/The merge tax will eat your 10x speedupTue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon't give your team pop quizzeshttps://davepaola.com/writing/dont-give-your-team-pop-quizzes/https://davepaola.com/writing/dont-give-your-team-pop-quizzes/A pattern of shitty cultureTue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTThoughts on Income Sharing Agreementshttps://davepaola.com/writing/thoughts-on-income-sharing-agreements/https://davepaola.com/writing/thoughts-on-income-sharing-agreements/Must capitalism + education = exploitation?Thu, 03 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTYou can be right, or you can be effectivehttps://davepaola.com/writing/you-can-be-right-or-you-can-be-effective/https://davepaola.com/writing/you-can-be-right-or-you-can-be-effective/Pick one.Wed, 21 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMTWhy is redirect logic always so complex?https://davepaola.com/writing/why-is-redirect-logic-always-so-complex/https://davepaola.com/writing/why-is-redirect-logic-always-so-complex/and what can we do to address it?Wed, 05 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTHigh performers job hop when they can't find a high performance culturehttps://davepaola.com/writing/high-performers-job-hop-when-they/https://davepaola.com/writing/high-performers-job-hop-when-they/On people leaving bad managers, frequentlyMon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTStop giving your team the answerhttps://davepaola.com/writing/stop-giving-your-team-the-answer/https://davepaola.com/writing/stop-giving-your-team-the-answer/Stop giving your team the answerWed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTThe day ALU pins expanded my brainhttps://davepaola.com/writing/the-day-alu-pins-expanded-my-brain/https://davepaola.com/writing/the-day-alu-pins-expanded-my-brain/The day ALU pins expanded my brainTue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTAccommodate mediocre communication, but do not tolerate it in yourselfhttps://davepaola.com/writing/accommodate-mediocre-communication/https://davepaola.com/writing/accommodate-mediocre-communication/Accommodate mediocre communication, but do not tolerate it in yourselfMon, 04 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTBig reusable things are complexhttps://davepaola.com/writing/big-reusable-things-are-complex/https://davepaola.com/writing/big-reusable-things-are-complex/Conditionals attract bugsWed, 28 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTDoes this 90s-era theory predict the popularity of Javascript?https://davepaola.com/writing/does-this-90s-era-theory-predict/https://davepaola.com/writing/does-this-90s-era-theory-predict/Does this 90s-era theory predict the popularity of Javascript?Tue, 27 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTWhy are non-DRY specs more maintainable?https://davepaola.com/writing/why-are-non-dry-specs-more-maintainable/https://davepaola.com/writing/why-are-non-dry-specs-more-maintainable/Why are non-DRY specs more maintainable?Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTSequential vs. parallel projects on a small teamhttps://davepaola.com/writing/sequential-parallel-projects/https://davepaola.com/writing/sequential-parallel-projects/Treating engineering management like insurance: thinking about project portfolios in terms of risk, cash burn, and the morale dynamics of small teams.Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTOpportunities in disguisehttps://davepaola.com/writing/opportunities-in-disguise/https://davepaola.com/writing/opportunities-in-disguise/On the first raise I ever gave, the moment of joy that lasted 60 seconds, and the rookie reaction I'm glad I unlearned.Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTDisagree and commithttps://davepaola.com/writing/disagree-and-commit/https://davepaola.com/writing/disagree-and-commit/Three choices when a Big Decision goes against you on an executive team — and why the middle path is almost always the right one.Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMTThe robustness principle of human communicationhttps://davepaola.com/writing/robustness/https://davepaola.com/writing/robustness/Postel's Law for humans: accommodate mediocre communication from others, and do not tolerate it in yourself.Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMTExtrapolating from one numberhttps://davepaola.com/writing/extrapolating/https://davepaola.com/writing/extrapolating/Why comparing coronavirus to the flu by a single number was wrong, and why bootcamp placement rates were the wrong metric for an online program — a pattern.Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMTOn choosing boring technologieshttps://davepaola.com/writing/boring/https://davepaola.com/writing/boring/A reaction to McFunley's Choose Boring Technology. Velocity is everything — and a decade in Rails has convinced me of it.Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTIf you multitask during meetings, your team will, toohttps://davepaola.com/writing/multitask/https://davepaola.com/writing/multitask/On meeting attention as a leverage point — and how casually checking email mid-meeting tells your team what's actually OK at your company.