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# Lessons from Sean Goedecke
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-sean-goedecke/
- Published: 2025-12-01T03:47:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-18T22:09:19.000Z
- Description: Sean Goedecke is a software engineer and writer known for pragmatic, often contrarian guidance on engineering careers, technology politics, and system design. His focus on large companies’ unwritten rules shows how organizational reality can diverge from formal process.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Engineering, AI & Machine Learning Profiles

Sean Goedecke is a software engineer and writer known for his pragmatic, often contrarian advice on engineering careers, tech politics, and system design. His writing typically focuses on the "unwritten rules" of large tech companies.

![Visual summary of operating lessons from Sean Goedecke.](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/image-24-optimized-1.webp)

![Infographic for "Lessons from Sean Goedecke".](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/485657e6-4f3c-4e71-b9a4-18b8933de964-b8c5416c-350a-4eb4-83f9-161a1a47051d-optimized.webp)

### **On Career Strategy & "Dangerous Advice"**

1. **"Most career advice is fake: written to avoid liability, or to impress people."**\[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH-cJJONvaN0r48qv6DYtasBG4KBGCq8MEekk3GNPvtiQUPrRcfUCzkq3M5wxSRM6TE4CQVtG37JfjmOetKP8zRREgBVxKiE-r9G6H44vdN4wDDbG9JDy4-w9Ymynx6UNLy6n5Xbb2zJDg%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Strong engineers crave dangerous advice, for the same reason they crave sharp tools."**\[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH-cJJONvaN0r48qv6DYtasBG4KBGCq8MEekk3GNPvtiQUPrRcfUCzkq3M5wxSRM6TE4CQVtG37JfjmOetKP8zRREgBVxKiE-r9G6H44vdN4wDDbG9JDy4-w9Ymynx6UNLy6n5Xbb2zJDg%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"Make your own decisions about what to work on. Deliberately break written company rules sometimes."**
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"If you’re serious about getting things done, you’ll end up doing some of these things because they’re obviously helpful."**
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Managers will almost never give you dangerous advice, even if it’s what you need to hear."**\[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH-cJJONvaN0r48qv6DYtasBG4KBGCq8MEekk3GNPvtiQUPrRcfUCzkq3M5wxSRM6TE4CQVtG37JfjmOetKP8zRREgBVxKiE-r9G6H44vdN4wDDbG9JDy4-w9Ymynx6UNLy6n5Xbb2zJDg%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"One month of grinding in the spotlight is worth one year of grinding in the dark."**
  - Source: [Software engineering under the spotlight](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fsoftware-engineering-under-the-spotlight%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\[[2](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQECAl3i-772McaWLwXyFME-IcFswBe5PpY3iWmNRaCkqWOogT%5FgaweL83R2vpFWyAstRxH3bHuPWunkDc0S1xXS9UUpKyWHn8jD88Hv0CPNmShtfhcOyQwq6GrKkdNL0CW6d4MN%5F-U%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
7. **"If you’re not working on anything in the company’s top priorities, the company is going to (probably) reward you less for it."**\[[2](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQECAl3i-772McaWLwXyFME-IcFswBe5PpY3iWmNRaCkqWOogT%5FgaweL83R2vpFWyAstRxH3bHuPWunkDc0S1xXS9UUpKyWHn8jD88Hv0CPNmShtfhcOyQwq6GrKkdNL0CW6d4MN%5F-U%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [Software engineering under the spotlight](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fsoftware-engineering-under-the-spotlight%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **"The only way to reliably avoid being laid off is to (a) be competent... and (b) attach yourself to profit centers in the company."**
  - Source: [Practical advice for engineers in these troubled times](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fpractical-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **"Don't spend unpaid, extra-hours time on invisible work."**
  - Source: [Practical advice for engineers in these troubled times](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fpractical-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **"Habits that got you rewarded during \[the 2010s\] may be actively harmful now."**
  - Source: [Practical advice for engineers in these troubled times](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fpractical-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. **"It can be deeply alienating to know things don't work the way they officially should, but to have nobody to talk about it with."**
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
12. **"Identify as a bit of a 'grifter'... take strong positions even when you're uncertain."**
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On Office Politics & Power**

1. **"Software engineers are tools in the political game being played at large companies, not players in their own right."**
  - Source: [How I influence tech company politics](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftech-company-politics%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change."**
  - Source: [How I influence tech company politics](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftech-company-politics%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around."**
  - Source: [How I influence tech company politics](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftech-company-politics%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"Your basic function is to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive... until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable."**
  - Source: [How I influence tech company politics](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftech-company-politics%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Large tech companies are full of predators: people who want to extract uncompensated work from competent engineers."**
  - Source: [Protecting your time from predators](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fprotecting-your-time%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"Helping other parts of the org is not your main job. Delivering projects is your main job."**
  - Source: [Protecting your time from predators](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fprotecting-your-time%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **"Predators aren't in a position to reward you (i.e. they're not in your management chain)."**
  - Source: [Protecting your time from predators](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fprotecting-your-time%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **"When you break rules, only the results matter. When you follow the rules, you have something to point to when things go wrong."**
  - Source: [How strong engineers break the rules](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fbreaking-rules%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **"Rules exist to constrain engineers with bad judgment, not to bind the ones with good judgment."**
  - Source: [How strong engineers break the rules](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fbreaking-rules%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **"Plausible deniability is part of the system."**
  - Source: [How strong engineers break the rules](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fbreaking-rules%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. **"Tech companies leadership often views engineers as useful idiots. Managers are expected to be professionals."**
  - Source: [Dangerous advice for software engineers](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fdangerous-advice%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On Engineering & Shipping**

1. **"Shipping in a big tech company is a very different skill to writing code, and lots of people who are great at writing code are terrible at shipping."**
  - Source: [How I ship projects at big tech companies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fhow-i-ship%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Remember that an un-celebrated launch is not a ship!"**
  - Source: [How I ship projects at big tech companies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fhow-i-ship%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"If you ship something users hate and makes no money, but your leadership team is happy, you still shipped."**
  - Source: [How I ship projects at big tech companies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fhow-i-ship%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"The best way to anticipate problems is to deploy early."**
  - Source: [How I ship projects at big tech companies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fhow-i-ship%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Obsessing over UX is praiseworthy behaviour when you are an engineer on the team, but a blunder if you are leading the project."**
  - Source: [How I ship projects at big tech companies](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fhow-i-ship%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"Obvious things are the most important. If you get the obvious things right, it's OK to get some of the more tricky things wrong."**
  - Source: [Engineers should state the obvious](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fstate-the-obvious%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **"Being good at shipping covers a multitude of sins in tech companies."**
  - Source: [Engineers should state the obvious](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fstate-the-obvious%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **"Even if something seems obvious to you, other people might not know it."**
  - Source: [Engineers should state the obvious](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fstate-the-obvious%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **"Expertise in software is the mastery of invariants: beliefs about how software works that are true 99.99% of the time."**
  - Source: [Thinking clearly about software](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fthinking-clearly%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **"The opposite of thinking clearly is frantically trying different things until the problem goes away."**
  - Source: [Thinking clearly about software](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fthinking-clearly%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. **"Slow down! To think clearly, think slowly."**
  - Source: [Thinking clearly about software](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fthinking-clearly%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On System & API Design**

1. **"Paradoxically, good design is self-effacing: bad design is often more impressive than good."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good system design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-system-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"I'm always suspicious of impressive-looking systems."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good system design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-system-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"If software design is how you assemble lines of code, system design is how you assemble services."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good system design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-system-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"You should try and minimize the amount of stateful components in any system... stateful components can get into a bad state."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good system design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-system-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"As a maintainer of an API, you have something like a sacred duty to avoid harming your downstream consumers."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"A technically-great API can't save a product that nobody wants to use."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **"API design is about finding a balance between... the simplest API possible \[and\] flexibility long-term."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **"Don't break userspace."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On "Legibility" & Organizational Theory**

1. **"Modern organizations exert control by maximising 'legibility': by altering the system so that all parts of it can be measured."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Illegible work is everything else: asking for and giving favors, using tacit knowledge... and drawing on interpersonal relationships."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"Engineer-driven work doesn't need to be translated into something that makes sense... it can just be done."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"If you announce publicly that you're getting a piece of work done through backchannels... you will be punished."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Sociopaths use \[the illegible\] world to climb the ladder, while losers use it to carve out a cosy low-effort niche."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"The 'clueless' are only engaged with legible processes."**
  - Source: [Seeing like a software company](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fseeing-like-a-software-company%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **General Wisdom**

1. **"I prefer iterating fast on an 80% solution than spending a lot of time to slowly polish a 100% solution."**
  - Source: [What kind of work I want (in 2025)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fwhat-kind-of-work-i-want-2025%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"A job where reliability and performance is important, at scale."** (Describing his ideal engineering environment)
  - Source: [What kind of work I want](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fwhat-kind-of-work-i-want%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On Staff & Principal Engineering**

1. **"You do not get to staff by being a great mentor... you get to staff by delivering value for the company."**\[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH6HFXgEcuq1hU-wwmcYdJl1bmRdelMUwhbO%5FPl%5F5I6KpVGKB9nZBkApBYhf9BengRLtdmzAMB1iu4bdWD%5FrwO3ChHvcmoXtWhR55IK4YlD6T%5FZVh6uOENeOnMLJf-GQJhWnAxH3Vv0mh2a6EW8Z-dPR3M%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [How I got promoted to staff engineer twice](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fstaff-promotion%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"My mission as a staff engineer is to provide technical clarity to the organization."**
  - Source: [How I provide technical clarity](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-clarity%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"Senior engineers are graded on execution.\[**[**1**](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH6HFXgEcuq1hU-wwmcYdJl1bmRdelMUwhbO%5FPl%5F5I6KpVGKB9nZBkApBYhf9BengRLtdmzAMB1iu4bdWD%5FrwO3ChHvcmoXtWhR55IK4YlD6T%5FZVh6uOENeOnMLJf-GQJhWnAxH3Vv0mh2a6EW8Z-dPR3M%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)**\] Staff engineers are graded on results."**
  - Source: [The more senior engineers get, the more results matter](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fresults-matter%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\[[2](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHxK2IAmjc-Bc-ZSGFpEO05sO45rofVEdEKBUZHU7V9MC002BmG5vudWA1VhkKWRzrJk2Lltbthv%5FQzc-nsu4OxQEzCxg1EtJefRi5FcA5JdFLVUVl3GbJtmVjSraNmYmFvdU%5FcI71fYHBjHZkfc3qbnz5WgiGl&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
4. **"If you do solid technical work but the project fails for non-technical reasons... that is your fault."**
  - Source: [The more senior engineers get, the more results matter](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fresults-matter%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\[[2](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHxK2IAmjc-Bc-ZSGFpEO05sO45rofVEdEKBUZHU7V9MC002BmG5vudWA1VhkKWRzrJk2Lltbthv%5FQzc-nsu4OxQEzCxg1EtJefRi5FcA5JdFLVUVl3GbJtmVjSraNmYmFvdU%5FcI71fYHBjHZkfc3qbnz5WgiGl&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
5. **"An engineer who answers most questions with 'well, I can't be sure' is useless as an advisor."**
  - Source: [How I provide technical clarity](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-clarity%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"Scheming takes practice and power, and neither of those things are available to software engineers."**\[[3](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHT5jX5GSTHp0eYnhhIEd0Z9zWWPjwKHr77JOVw%5Fav72EevejQoZ%5F5e9V8phGP3mKHZedlbMx62CY10-BkAH%5FLXhTFfJyoe3-PkSQQ9dpspv3I53DXrblqJTs5vaOofM7U%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)\]
  - Source: [How I influence tech company politics](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftech-company-politics%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **"The default state of a project is to fail. Projects only succeed because people drag them kicking and screaming to the finish line."**
  - Source: [The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast Interview (2024)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPragmaticEngineer&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **"One demo of 'hey look at this thing working' can cut through weeks of conversation."**
  - Source: [The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast Interview (2024)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPragmaticEngineer&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On Technical Writing & Communication**

1. **"To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations. Your readers will typically read the first sentence, skim the next, and stop."**
  - Source: [To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-writing-expectations%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"If you can communicate your idea in a single sentence, do that."**
  - Source: [To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-writing-expectations%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"Omit subtle details. This is the biggest difference between technical writing and code."**
  - Source: [To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-writing-expectations%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"You should frontload all important information. If you spend a paragraph throat-clearing, you've lost them."**
  - Source: [To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-writing-expectations%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Good technical writing helps people trust you, even if they're still confused."**
  - Source: [To get better at technical writing, lower your expectations](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Ftechnical-writing-expectations%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On Code Review & Quality**

1. **"Most of the highest-impact code review comments have very little to do with the diff at all."**
  - Source: [Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fcode-review-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Don't just review the diff. Consider what code isn't being written."**
  - Source: [Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fcode-review-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"A good code review shouldn't contain more than five or six comments."**
  - Source: [Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fcode-review-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"If you want to block, leave a blocking review. Don't be passive-aggressive."**
  - Source: [Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fcode-review-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"Code review is not the time for you to impose your personal taste on a colleague."**
  - Source: [Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fcode-review-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"Consistency is the cardinal value in large established codebases."**
  - Source: [Mistakes engineers make in large established codebases](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Flarge-codebase-mistakes%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **On AI & The Future of Coding**

1. **"Vibe coding is basically coding without touching the keyboard... growing a codebase without seeing any of the lines."**
  - Source: [AI in Production Interview (2025)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAIProduction&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"I use AI agents to write most of my front-end stuff... but for Go code, I often have to do it by hand because the agent isn't quite there yet."**
  - Source: [The Changelog Interview (2025)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fchangelog.com%2Fpodcast&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"There is going to be a new set of engineering values... how much engineers need to manually review AI work is still up in the air."**
  - Source: [The Changelog Interview (2025)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fchangelog.com%2Fpodcast&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"LLMs can think in a way that is useful to engineers, but they don't think as well as a strong engineer."**
  - Source: [Humans of Reliability Podcast (2025)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fpodcasts%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### **Specific Technical Opinions**

1. **"I'm more excited by maintenance than rewrites."**
  - Source: [What kind of work I want](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fwhat-kind-of-work-i-want%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **"Good APIs are boring. An API that's interesting is a bad API."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **"You should never make a change to an API just because it'd be neater."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **"I don't like GraphQL very much... it's completely impenetrable to non-engineers."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good API design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-api-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **"A complex system usually reflects an absence of good design."**
  - Source: [Everything I know about good system design](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fgood-system-design%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **"Do the simplest thing that could possibly work. It's surprising how far you can take this advice."**
  - Source: [Do The Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fsimplest-thing%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **"You can't iterate your way inside constraints, you have to start there."**
  - Source: [Paths through the space of all possible solutions](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seangoedecke.com%2Fpossible-solutions%2F&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

Sources

1. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH-cJJONvaN0r48qv6DYtasBG4KBGCq8MEekk3GNPvtiQUPrRcfUCzkq3M5wxSRM6TE4CQVtG37JfjmOetKP8zRREgBVxKiE-r9G6H44vdN4wDDbG9JDy4-w9Ymynx6UNLy6n5Xbb2zJDg%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQECAl3i-772McaWLwXyFME-IcFswBe5PpY3iWmNRaCkqWOogT%5FgaweL83R2vpFWyAstRxH3bHuPWunkDc0S1xXS9UUpKyWHn8jD88Hv0CPNmShtfhcOyQwq6GrKkdNL0CW6d4MN%5F-U%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGAlghyaYxEfGOncnJwyb3WSTfqTPW1fF3StFmPcd5Bvrg-%5FEYaUUxALq-YORYZP1-YL7W3bpsl0NGDmUS2iVL7mlPFtWy4dlXGzO2BEKwQKdyvAF-cstiRnqCvjWYNj3oLojZx09GdiFL4TGMri4N6&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHm7BEbA4jdT7tAi6gA%5FZG-QarNaOE0jGVYRbVAIhac12JtLpRHvSOESqTuPg30V-rRq5gBZ8ngrfduj7TX1g0nkdbwhSwaKg2QeOBXbabqG0QD-zgEVhoceuhF8jR103NlsBNTOuKYvvCob-%5Fr3tEISOU%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQEu4oPlbIcqHLTVYhOqMxr9vPBWS33xRE0d8%5FUfCZfw9orNeM5z4fUzkYxNNKEiGO4TorgJpoby8J9VmHWwL2Sih1pEqyxrzBtMOaYS4cmqUCIK1vMaVvFbIZGNpapG1-RPRg%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH86a2%5FfoWFeEAGJG0dx88UDcLOqTgRlIiqgry2kIznOXUjVq9oUp3SfAl48qijJbg3ZgTmCuozNoN0%5FbIQM67xLh%5FMp8F1KlWg0-FqCqyNgtOwVzWcItq7wKqZ2qBZk2%5FXNzoi1c87rwtfZ6s5go90YpDoLbRRQw%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQFvd1B3lkIUAZehLrTywjNAECHez2oDN7mmwTOl7DJ2M%5F8WEknqXrKpE5uUAyWqhUKgXgINoYs94PI%5FNxHphcbvldkS0U4gyYJQwJXuPQN5E42ZHMpDIHHkafkHQEk7TDvtcuXtl99E&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQE%5FKkD0foGWfzJTg0Y-o0zdABzKAswNXL10ltYH4hqrysNbSMp4150XEsT%5FKCX9aliVFK6pbuSkF6z0KpxEZ0d2oYD2XEZOjU3SGsxNVVYSZ02i7jfoy-dqABYztHxP2MhqmcxA&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQExoWZFQfDJFZsSK-nJ8J%5FWPKrkwtRzr1HKGAptYWE4Bp8cSdHxcPbvuKJ6i5YJ6nvgSaQTiaVXjxntDtxt32mAb7103T4XRz1ItDFy8B8rYDHrvP28D5ZM5Wqd6v8PkwCZn6hgnhVA1cc%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQE%5F-QToL8BbAwa36KummbdZgX0YV4Q1Wpn62haEpQjzOgggqM6WSr6nzKHbTT1KgBdvfjBswnqZw24htkU6Ji6nSrFYX0Wzw9FWIgngnKJOGZQisnP95Z51sJmcuXecjsFsd0faBrHX61kMtQ%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGLdCyUzpfrdaCpjgl9ptTtmqpXq%5Fm5K-zh0lTPcdT%5FMMuIStTAgfizbI%5F5bdkD-JcG%5FDO0XvvHKv1HxJSjDLXQM57tAIM5GQPadQLqtrPyIHKSqu0CARU6%5Fe1rdhfDTE9JRNYgy12ru3lc6w%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
12. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQER5q051FxZn8X1P7KWu4PjU%5F7sE0bhLpA3QE47sIopiliRd0DceoaUhskcpAG7GQsxDxpAkRxnj%5FXmtz4ZXt2cKtziKfkCl9EdIUVSiObs2lPAtsD23U5NWqzXsS698oyCrLfqHiXfjw%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
13. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQH6HFXgEcuq1hU-wwmcYdJl1bmRdelMUwhbO%5FPl%5F5I6KpVGKB9nZBkApBYhf9BengRLtdmzAMB1iu4bdWD%5FrwO3ChHvcmoXtWhR55IK4YlD6T%5FZVh6uOENeOnMLJf-GQJhWnAxH3Vv0mh2a6EW8Z-dPR3M%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
14. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHxK2IAmjc-Bc-ZSGFpEO05sO45rofVEdEKBUZHU7V9MC002BmG5vudWA1VhkKWRzrJk2Lltbthv%5FQzc-nsu4OxQEzCxg1EtJefRi5FcA5JdFLVUVl3GbJtmVjSraNmYmFvdU%5FcI71fYHBjHZkfc3qbnz5WgiGl&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
15. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHT5jX5GSTHp0eYnhhIEd0Z9zWWPjwKHr77JOVw%5Fav72EevejQoZ%5F5e9V8phGP3mKHZedlbMx62CY10-BkAH%5FLXhTFfJyoe3-PkSQQ9dpspv3I53DXrblqJTs5vaOofM7U%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
16. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGhmYcXfjMl7VJheAzomdrabkbtb7h-WTPuDUko38lssLKF4zxlY7H-5mx3Mr244Urj3ouzaghCeRpgpTh9HrkPZhyy--84BCHR9L8I5v0c2U9Fb98vqt2ZLOoVkIvmbkm4OP8XI3UrA10-%5FwI0RVDiwzs%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
17. [youtube.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQEQGTZ72LK9CXomX9kOyPMmNpKnqrNFf7D5q15l5QHJEHypDA4AqAPzkrV-aZ0RnJVYEHZ9raSFG825%5FPVsT-dlYYGfVj3Dt-vHGwQAI0xcCfOGhXTEnqx3M8jihHnxylBu6UA9CyI%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
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19. [youtube.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQEtLKMIO5pGuqHlk-ZJK0vZMp4bRF7yQxTBVJE3YdZaJSOJIGgeXFVwrmW%5FXs-DH-mIcp8ZHAjmVAXicaMpzF%5Fk2U5%5FaXBK1KnD7YXg%5FB0Jkfdt7rwniizN6rSC9Tb0EYQe6ne-MFQ%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
20. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQERHGBTpH3UUDJloAkUxYmDxAtKMcwCA8nGVN7SqyI%5F03QU4480cBsqAYojiplRSo9OJ%5FGNCJal6tD5qQY4kWKiv3DY9vUQRNGnYxirTk8TlpW6aa4R5E3-zz3m5EPm%5Fh1W11p93QhaMA%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
21. [seangoedecke.com](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQHFuxQVPvGZE-naSSnYRdUCikb0af1h1kS2iUKDsUzlwvFy6a-5Cmc0vtoRozshUoALa0b9uGPn1MDxn6FgiaAE9UmK4EQ1xKv83V46PIgFrMS5FeXxhwv19e-1KYZLfYU3xI91aftlif6mrg%3D%3D&ref=antoinebuteau.com)

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