Jul 22

Using Substition to Make Decisions Simpler

There's a cognitive trick our brains play whenever we face a hard question or a difficult decision: we quietly swap the hard thing for something easier to answer. It's called substitution, and we do it constantly — usually without noticing, and sometimes to our detriment. In toda ... Show More

18m 30s

Jul 10

Your Single Most Important Tool for Managing the Uneven Downsides of Risk

The skills you build and the tools you master matter, but they aren't your most important asset when things go wrong — and something eventually will. In this episode, I work through why our careers and lives are governed more by avoiding catastrophic downside than by chasing upsi ... Show More

25 m

Jun 24

Why Can't You Go Faster With AI? Focus on the Friction to Find Out

If you are a manager, a lead engineer, or anyone growing into more responsibility, this throwback episode is built for you. We keep hearing the same question, now louder than ever: "Why can't this go faster?" AI and agentic coding have made the literal coding step dramatically ch ... Show More

19m 26s

Jul 2023

Episode 364: EMs doing technical tasks and too soft?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Do you think an EM should only be involved with management tasks, and let the members handle the technical stuff, or should they have some technical expertise to manage things like architecture reviews or handle urgent inc ... Show More

25m 27s

May 2025

Episode 459: Am I cutting edge and how to compliment someone who went from super jerk to super nice

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I work for a B2C fintech startup as a senior engineer. Our onboarding funnel has a lot of moving parts due to regulatory compliance and a litany of requirements from various parts of the business. As a startup, we also liv ... Show More

22m 44s

Apr 2024

S3 E16 - The Dev Life | Angular Academy: Building a Team of Code Ninjas with Trevor Kendall Part 2

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:This is part 2 to a fantastic in-depth discussion on teaching and learning in software development. We go WAY beyond teaching technical skills alone and focus on how companies can build leaders and individuals can forge successful careers for themselves. We ex ... Show More

32m 54s

Nov 2023

Episode 383: In the trenches without writing code and how to close a social skill gap

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I recently started the interviewing for a senior engineering manager role at a fairly prestigious, but not huge (maybe 30-50 engineers) tech company. The job description heavily emphasized the idea of leading as a peer as ... Show More

37m 28s

Mar 2016

Episode 1: Startup Opportunities and Switching Jobs

Welcome to Soft Skills Engineering, where we answer your questions about non-technical topics in software engineering. Come get some wisdom, or at least some wise cracks. In episode 1, Dave and Jamison answer two questions: I’m a developer who gets approached from time to time to ... Show More

25m 33s

Feb 2024

Episode 396: Enthusiastic scope creep and human search engine

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’ve recently started a new Gig as a Senior Developer/Tech Lead at a company where we are our own clients, using the software we develop in-house. I’m encountering a bit of a hiccup, though. Our product owner, is primarily ... Show More

35m 44s

Aug 2022

Episode 318: Staff and part time dev

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener Albert Camus asks, Hello Team. I am a long time listener of the show, and I really enjoy it. I’m a senior engineer and want to get to the next level in my career. I talked to my manager about this. I told them I p ... Show More

28m 53s

Jan 2025

Episode 444: Surrounded by apathetic coworkers and put it on my resume?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: After a decade as a Senior front-end engineer in companies stuck in legacy ways of working—paying lip service to true agility while clinging to control-heavy, waterfall practices—I’m frustrated and exhausted by meetings an ... Show More

31m 10s

Sep 2019

Episode 088 - Tech lead engineer - herding cats & drinks

We often talk a lot about growth path as engineers. One of those growth paths could be a tech lead engineer. In this episode, we are joined by Tony Edwards to help talk with us about what the role and responsibilities of a lead engineer are. Guests: Tony Edwards - @tedwards947 Pa ... Show More

53m 29s

Jun 2023

Episode 361: Get git and non-tech ramping up

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener Schtolteheim Reinbach III asks, Hey soft skills engineering, love you guys. I work at a company you wouldn’t hear much about, on a product that you wouldn’t think about as having much tech involved- suffice it to ... Show More

28m 5s

What Defines a Senior Developer? - Choos...