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Implementing an RFC Process That Engineers Don’t Hate
The hardest part of an RFC process isn’t designing the template. It’s making sure people actually use it without feeling like they’re filing TPS reports. I’ve written before about When to Write an RFC and When Not To and how it helps in formalizing technical decisions as companies scale. This is the tactical follow-up on…
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When to Write an RFC (and When Not To)
Growing engineering organizations face a communication problem that more meetings won’t solve. When you’re small, decisions happen naturally. Everyone knows what everyone else is working on. You can sit around a table and discuss problems and solutions. But as you add engineers and teams, that breaks down. You start seeing the symptoms: conflicting architectural decisions…
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Shadow IT Isn’t a Threat, It’s a Signal
Someone on your team is using an AI tool you didn’t approve. Your solutions engineers built a custom data ingestion pipeline without telling anyone. A pre-sales engineer spun up a demo feature that customers are now asking about. Your instinct might be to enforce the policy and shut it all down while reminding everyone about…
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Using Hackathons to Drive Real AI Adoption
Unless you’re an AI vendor, you don’t need an AI strategy. You need an AI adoption strategy. This distinction matters. “AI strategy” implies a comprehensive vision for how AI transforms your business—a roadmap, a framework, maybe even a consultant or two. That’s the right frame if you’re selling AI products or reimagining your SaaS business…
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When Capabilities Become Competencies: Recognizing Strategic Emergence
Most strategic planning focuses on protecting what you already know is valuable about your business. You’ve identified your core competencies, you’re investing in them, you’re keeping the knowledge in-house. Check. The harder problem is recognizing when something you’ve been treating as plumbing has quietly become the thing that customers are buying and actually differentiates you.…
