Wednesday Wisdom

NOTE: Because of a mistake, this episode has been posted out of order and was supposed to be published on 5/20/2026.It should be listened to before the episode on 5/27/2026 called: Coding with AI tools is still hard. Apologies for the confusion.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/a-tiny-history-of-software-engineering

AI coding tools excel at the part of software development that was never really a problem to begin with: Typing in the statements. Because of this, coding with AI tools is still hard.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/coding-with-ai-tools-is-still-hard

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Wisdom, in which we cover a reader question on how to deal with managers who insist on "accurate ETAs" for software development projects. Obviously, no software project in the history of time has ever been delivered according to a pre-established immutable plan and there is no more common sound in software than the sound of a deadline, whooshing by. But how to convince your manager of that?

Many startups are anxiety factories. But why? There are the obvious reasons, but there is one that is often overlooked. Find out how that works in this week's Wednesday Wisdom article.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-anxiety-factory

Does it? Because let's be honest, most code reviews are terrible. Also, what about AI generated code? Warning: This episode contains more questions than answers!https://josvisser.substack.com/p/does-code-review-still-matter

This week: An article confirming the Law of the Conservation of Misery. Rejoice!https://josvisser.substack.com/p/ten-things-not-to-worry-about-regarding

It’s like morphine, not overly dangerous when used sparingly and in small doses by experts…

Think big, but execute small...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/big-machine-people

This week’s Wednesday Wisdom features a competition of human against bot. I took the question of how to become a better engineer, wrote an article about it, but also asked ⁠Midweek Muse⁠ (a ChatGPT trained on Wednesday Wisdom content) to write an article about it. I am posting both of these articles and you choose which one you like best. This is the article written by the bot.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/how-to-become-a-better-engineer-bot

This week’s Wednesday Wisdom features a competition of human against bot. I took the question of how to become a better engineer, wrote an article about it, but also asked Midweek Muse (a ChatGPT trained on Wednesday Wisdom content) to write an article about it. I am posting both of these articles and you choose which one you like best. This is the article written by the human.

I finally learned to enjoy being nobody…https://josvisser.substack.com/p/coming-to-terms-with-my-unimportance

Do you have one?https://josvisser.substack.com/p/exit-plan

It has come to this: A standard response to the many messages I get that seek to sell something to me, offer me a job, use me as an introduction to sell something to OpenAI, or get a referral for a position at OpenAI.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/standard-response

Can you afford to be so efficient that you cannot innovate anymore?https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-cost-of-efficiency

If at this moment in time you are not investing in proficiency with AI coding tools, you are doing yourself an enormous disservice.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-one-about-codex

The subtle art of gliding into retirement with ease and comfort...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-gift-of-post-career

It is often hard to move on after an amazing work experience...Article: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/losing-the-secret-sense

To get something done, be everywhere all the time and persist...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/taylor-swift-and-the-value-of-time

Seniority is not a job description, it is a mindset you take to every task you engage with...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/short-seniority-is-a-mindset

Math is everywhere, but rarely used...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/math-and-you

Not that I know, but here are some thoughts...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/how-to-become-a-tl-101

In 2026, I will again spend a lot of time explaining to people that things that sound really simple are actually quite complicated and that two things that look alike are in fact quite different.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-problem-fractal

Note: This is the 12/24/2025 episode which I apparently forgot to publish on the date itself :-)Full article: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/parameters-for-success

I used to think not nice was cool. How wrong I was!Full article: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-gift-of-nice

Perhaps the hallmark of a good engineer is not that they always write good software, but that they can get bad software working and out of the door in time when the situation requires it.

Hot take: You might be doing SRE all wrong!https://josvisser.substack.com/p/misinterpreting-sre

Everyone is stressed...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/stress

Learning happens when you have to sink or swim...https://josvisser.substack.com/p/tg-special-a-reader-question

Respect what came before because often there is much hard-earned wisdom embedded in existing solutions. Also: Replacing working code is hard.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/respect-what-came-before

Modesty is not a hip trait in a world that suffers from culturally sanctioned ADHD, but all things considered, I’d rather be undecided while I am thinking, than wrong.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-gift-of-modesty

Or: How to be successful while making many mistakes 🙂Read, watch, and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/more-things-i-learned-running-a-small

Experience is what you get when you are expecting something else…

The problem with heroes is that heroics don’t scale; instead: Boring scales. Call me old-fashioned (or boring) if you will, but when I am in charge of running some service, I want my days to be uneventful.https://josvisser.substack.com/p/unhappy-the-team-that-needs-heroes

If you have code reviews without actual reviews, postmortems that do not lead to improvements, and training without learning, you have form without function. It might look good, but it is useless.Read, watch, and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/form-without-function

You might like the boat you are in, but make sure you leave it before it starts making water.

If your team's culture is not what you think it needs to be, do not explain what needs to change, instead, model the desired behavior and look for a first follower.This week's article: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/show-dont-tellReferenced video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQThursday Thoughts article: https://josvisser2.substack.com/p/keeping-it-real-about-the-european

Adaptability is the new safety net…Read at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/security-is-temporary-adaptability

If you are a software engineer today and you are not learning how to be a better and faster coder with AI agents, you are doing yourself a disservice that might have significant ramifications for your career. Do not miss this bandwagon.Read, watch, and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/coding-in-the-time-of-ai

Whenever I get feedback, I always check if someone didn’t just explain some of the rules of the game to me.Read and watch at https://josvisser.substack.com

People with experience solving small problems often underestimate the difficulty of solving big problems.Read and watch at: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/scale-is-the-only-problem-left

If you are, like me, a certified brainiac who relishes in spouting endless factoids, I invite you to consider this: You might be wrong. Considering that you might be wrong will make it more impressive if you are right and, as a bonus, will make you a nicer person to be around.

If you want to be effective and professional, you better know your tools well and spend time gaining the required knowledge and experience.Read and watch at: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/know-thy-tools

When communicating in a professional context, you want every communication to count towards something. This in turn means that you need to have crystal clarity about your goals. If you communicate without a plan, then it should be no surprise that your non-existent plan does not come to fruition.Read, watch, and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/all-communication-is-strategic

For the systems you own, do you ever look at the logs and metrics? If not, you are not the owner, you are, at best, the lazy guardian of a bunch of orphans, anyone of which could become the next Voldemort.Read, watch, and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-burdens-of-ownership

Hot take: If you want to work in this field, you need to understand computers.Read and watch at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/keeping-it-real

You might be a distributed systems genius or the world’s best leet coder, but without tech support, your life would be miserable. Remember that next time you go to IT.Read at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/appreciate-your-it-support.

 Interviewing is a skill and, much like penalty shootouts during major soccer tournaments, can be trained. Raw talent helps, but in a pinch, preparation beats talent and experience nine times out ten.Read, watch, and subscribe at: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/candidates-please-prepare

It's a magical quality that will save you, even when you (like me) are the dumbest person in the building...Read (and maybe watch) at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/getting-stuff-done.

I typically spend a large part of the weekend and most of the public holidays resisting the urge to sit down and do some work. That is obviously a terrible state of affairs and it is not a lot of fun either, so what’s up and why not give in?https://josvisser.substack.com/p/taming-the-monkey-brain

Being certain means that you don’t have to think about anything anymore, which results in more speed. You might be going in the wrong direction, but at least you are going fast, which is a great boon for all the people who confuse motion with progress. It also makes you look decisive...Listen here or read and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-unfortunate-desire-for-certainty