
# Eat That Frog! — Brian Tracy

The title comes from Mark Twain: if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, nothing worse can happen to you the rest of the day. Your frog is your most important, hardest task — the one you most want to avoid, and also the one that will have the greatest positive impact on your results. Do it first. Everything after that is easier.

This is the companion book to [Goals!](/blog/goals-by-brian-tracy) Where [Goals!](/blog/goals-by-brian-tracy) gives you the system for knowing where you are going, Eat That Frog gives you the daily discipline for actually getting there. The two books work as a pair.



## The Core Idea

You will never get everything done. There is always more to do than time to do it, and there always will be. The answer is not a better productivity app or a longer working day. The answer is to stop trying to do everything and instead identify the one task with the greatest consequences — your frog — and do that first, every single day, until it is completely finished.

"Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on."

The three qualities that make this possible are decision, discipline, and determination. First, make a firm decision to build the habit of completing your most important task before anything else. Second, discipline yourself to practice the techniques below until they become automatic. Third, back everything with determination until the habits are permanently part of who you are.



## The 21 Techniques

### 1. Set the Table

Before anything else, get clear on what you want. Write it down — thinking on paper is essential. Set a deadline. List every action required to achieve it. Organise that list by priority and sequence. Then start immediately.

An average plan acted on vigorously beats a brilliant plan that sits on paper.

"Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. The bigger your goals and the clearer they are, the more excited you become about achieving them."

### 2. Plan Every Day in Advance

Every minute spent planning saves ten minutes in execution. The first ten percent of time you spend planning saves ninety percent of the time required to carry the work out.

Use four lists running at all times:

- A master list of everything you need to do
- A monthly list for the coming month
- A weekly list updated at the end of each week
- A daily list written the evening before

Work from your daily list from the moment you begin. Never start the day without a written plan.

### 3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything

Twenty percent of your tasks produce eighty percent of your results. Before you begin work each morning, ask: is this task in my top twenty percent or bottom eighty? Work only on the top twenty percent until it is done.

Resist the temptation to clear small tasks first just because they feel easy. Small tasks done efficiently are still small tasks. The payoff from completing a major task is always disproportionately greater than the effort required.

"One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not be done at all."

### 4. Consider the Consequences

Before starting any task, ask: what are the potential consequences of doing this, or not doing this? Long-term thinkers make far better daily decisions than short-term thinkers. The tasks with the biggest long-term consequences are always your real priorities, even when they feel uncomfortable to begin.

"Long-term thinking improves short-term decision making."

Successful people are those willing to delay gratification and make sacrifices now in exchange for far greater rewards later.

### 5. Practice Creative Procrastination

You cannot do everything. Since you must procrastinate on something, procrastinate deliberately on low-value tasks rather than high-value ones. Regularly ask: what can I stop doing right now that is not essential? What can I delegate? What can I eliminate entirely?

Saying no to the unimportant is what creates space for the important. High performers guard their time fiercely. They are as disciplined about what they choose not to do as about what they choose to do.

### 6. Use the ABCDE Method Every Day

Before you begin work, label every task on your list:

- A — must do, serious consequences if not done. Your frog.
- B — should do, mild consequences. Never do a B while an A remains.
- C — nice to do, no real consequences either way.
- D — delegate to someone else immediately.
- E — eliminate entirely. Ask honestly whether it needs doing at all.

Work through A tasks in order of priority — A1, A2, A3 — before touching anything else on the list. This single discipline, applied consistently, will transform your output.

### 7. Focus on Key Result Areas

Every role has five to seven key result areas — the specific outputs that define whether you are doing your job excellently. Write yours down. Grade yourself honestly from one to ten on each.

Your weakest key result area sets the ceiling for everything else. A chain breaks at its weakest link. Identify your weakest area and commit to improving it. Ask yourself: what one skill, if I developed it to excellence, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?

"Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field."

### 8. The Law of Three

Identify the three tasks that contribute the most value to your work. These three tasks typically account for ninety percent of the value you produce. Everything else is secondary. Do this exercise for your career, your finances, your relationships, and your health. Know your three most important frogs before you begin each day.

### 9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin

Get everything you need ready before you start. Clear your desk of everything except what is relevant to the task in front of you. A clean, organised workspace produces a calmer, more focused mind.

Tracy's personal rule: get it eighty percent right and correct it later. Do not wait for perfect conditions. They never arrive. Start with what you have.

"An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done."

### 10. Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time

When a task feels overwhelming, stop looking at the whole of it. Focus on the single next action. Start there. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Once you begin, momentum builds naturally. The hardest part of any task is always getting started. The moment you put pen to paper, open the document, or make the first call, resistance drops and progress becomes possible.

"The hardest part of any important task is getting started. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you seem to be naturally motivated to continue."

### 11. Upgrade Your Key Skills Constantly

The more skilled you become at your most important tasks, the less you avoid them and the more naturally you move toward them. Read in your field for at least one hour every day. Attend courses and seminars. Listen to educational audio when travelling. The better you become at eating a particular type of frog, the more likely you are to simply plunge in and get it done.

"Anytime you stop striving to get better, you are bound to get worse."

### 12. Leverage Your Special Talents

Identify the things you do better than most people, the things that come naturally and produce your best results. Build your most important work around those strengths wherever possible. Delegate tasks that fall outside them. You perform at your best when working in your areas of natural excellence.

### 13. Identify Your Key Constraints

Something is always setting the speed at which you achieve your results. Ask honestly: what is the bottleneck? What is slowing me down most? In most cases the constraint is internal — a skill gap, a habit, a fear, an avoidance pattern — not external.

"Successful people always begin the analysis of constraints by asking: what is it in me that is holding me back?"

Find the constraint, address it directly, and your overall speed increases immediately.

### 14. Maximise Your Personal Power

Identify your peak energy hours — the time of day when you are most alert, focused, and effective. Protect these hours ruthlessly for your most important work. Never spend peak hours on email, admin, meetings, or anything that does not require your best thinking.

"It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at home that matters."

Eat well, sleep enough, and exercise regularly. Your physical energy is the foundation for your mental energy. Neglecting it costs far more in lost productivity than the time it takes to maintain it.

### 15. Motivate Yourself into Action

No one is coming to rescue you. The world is full of people waiting for someone else to motivate them. It does not work that way. You are responsible for your own emotional state and your own forward movement.

"Most of your emotions, positive or negative, are determined by how you talk to yourself on a minute-to-minute basis. It is not what happens to you but the way that you interpret things that determines how you feel."

Choose your self-talk deliberately. Stay positive and forward-looking. When you feel resistance, say to yourself: back to work. Then begin.

### 16. Get Off Technology

Social media, email, news feeds, and aimless browsing are among the greatest destroyers of productive time in existence. They are designed to capture attention and hold it. Be deliberate about when you use them. Check email at set times rather than continuously. Protect your focused work blocks from all digital interruption.

Replace time lost to technology with reading, exercise, family, or anything that actually improves your life and moves you toward your goals.

### 17. Slice and Dice the Task

When a project feels too large to begin, break it into the smallest possible pieces. Identify just one piece you can start right now and begin on that alone. Do not think about the rest until the first piece is done.

This is related to the oil barrel technique but applied specifically to projects with many moving parts. A report becomes an outline. An outline becomes a first paragraph. A first paragraph becomes the first sentence. Start anywhere. The act of starting is what matters.

### 18. Create Large Blocks of Time

Your most important creative and analytical work requires sustained, uninterrupted concentration. Schedule blocks of sixty to ninety minutes for deep work. Close the door, silence notifications, and work without stopping until the block is complete.

Batch similar smaller tasks — calls, emails, admin — into their own blocks outside of your peak hours. This prevents the constant task-switching that destroys both focus and momentum.

### 19. Develop a Sense of Urgency

Effective people move fast. They launch directly into their most important task and work steadily and single-mindedly until it is complete. Failure to execute is one of the biggest productivity problems in any organisation and in any individual life.

Develop the habit of acting quickly on your priorities. Speed is a competitive advantage. A bias toward action, even imperfect action, produces more results than careful deliberation that never leads anywhere.

### 20. Single Handle Every Task

Once you start your most important task, keep going until it is one hundred percent complete. No switching, no checking your phone, no side conversations, no distractions of any kind. Each time you stop and restart a task, you waste significant time and mental energy rebuilding your focus and context.

When you feel the pull to stop, say to yourself: back to work. Then continue.

"Single handling requires that once you begin, you keep working at the task without diversion or distraction until the job is 100 percent complete."

### 21. Zero-Based Thinking

Regularly ask yourself about every commitment, project, and activity in your life: if I were not already doing this, knowing what I know now, would I choose to start doing it today? If the answer is no, it is a candidate for stopping.

Apply this to projects, relationships, habits, recurring meetings, subscriptions, and obligations. Most people continue doing things long after the original reason has gone, simply out of inertia. Zero-based thinking cuts through that inertia and frees up time, energy, and attention for what actually matters now.

"Practice zero-based thinking in every part of your life."



## Daily Power Habits

Evening — write your daily list for tomorrow. Label every task with the ABCDE method before you sleep. Know what your A1 task is before the day begins. Your subconscious will begin preparing overnight.

Morning — start your A1 task immediately, before email, before messages, before anything else. Work on it without stopping until it is complete. This one habit alone will put you ahead of most people.

Throughout the day — when you complete a task, return to your list, identify the next highest-priority item, and begin immediately. Never let yourself drift into low-value activity because the obvious next step feels hard.

Weekly — review your key result areas, your three most important goals, and your master list. Ask: what one skill, if I improved it, would make the biggest difference? Commit to working on it.



## Quotes Worth Keeping

"Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work."

"One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not be done at all."

"Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on."

"An average person who develops the habit of setting clear priorities and getting important tasks done quickly will run circles around a genius who makes wonderful plans but gets very little done."

"The hardest part of any important task is getting started. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you seem to be naturally motivated to continue."

"Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field."

"The world is full of people waiting for someone to come along and motivate them. The problem is that no one is coming to the rescue."



## How This Connects to Goals!

[Goals!](/blog/goals-by-brian-tracy) tells you what to achieve and builds the inner architecture to pursue it seriously. Eat That Frog tells you how to stop procrastinating and execute every single day.

- [Goals!](/blog/goals-by-brian-tracy) is the strategy — Eat That Frog is the daily discipline
- The 3P Formula programs the mind — the ABCDE Method organises the day
- The 6P Formula creates the plan — single-handling gets individual tasks finished
- Mindstorming generates solutions — eating the frog ensures you act on them

Read [Goals!](/blog/goals-by-brian-tracy) to know where you are going. Use Eat That Frog every day to make sure you are actually moving.

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy


# Goals! — Brian Tracy

Tracy wrote this after years of studying why some people achieve extraordinary things while others with equal ability achieve very little. The answer, consistently, was goals. Not talent, not luck, not connections — the habit of setting clear written goals and working on them every day.

## The Core Idea

Most people drift. They have vague wishes — to be happy, to earn more, to get fit — but no system for turning those wishes into reality. Tracy's argument is simple: your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. What you think about, plan for, and act on consistently is what your life becomes.

"Living without clear goals is like driving in a thick fog. No matter how powerful or well-engineered your car, you drive slowly, hesitantly, making little progress on even the smoothest road."

---

## Part One — Get Your Mindset Right

Do this work before setting a single goal. Most goal-setting fails here.

### 1. Unlock Your Potential

You have more natural potential than you could use in several lifetimes. Most people operate at a fraction of their capacity not because they lack ability, but because they have never been shown how to access it. The starting point is to accept, genuinely and completely, that you are capable of far more than you have yet achieved.

"The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good."

### 2. Take Charge of Your Life — Accept Total Responsibility

Stop blaming circumstances, other people, or bad luck. You are exactly where your choices have brought you. Nothing changes until you own that completely, with no excuses and no blame. This is not a comfortable idea but it is the most liberating one in the book.

"The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life."

### 3. Create Your Own Future

Imagine your ideal life five years from now with no constraints — what would it look like? Tracy calls this the magic wand exercise: if you could wave a magic wand and have your life be perfect in every area, what would it look like? Write it down. People who think long-term and hold a clear picture of where they are going consistently make better daily decisions than those living reactively.

### 4. Clarify Your Values

Before setting goals, know what actually matters to you — not what your parents wanted, not what society expects. What do you genuinely stand for? Goals built on someone else's values never last because the motivation underneath them is borrowed. Values are the foundation. Build everything on top of them.

### 5. Determine Your True Goals

Most people have never sat down and honestly asked: what do I really want? In every area of life — work, finances, health, relationships, personal development. Do not let any area drift on autopilot. Write it all out. This exercise alone, done thoroughly, produces clarity that most people never experience.

### 6. Decide Upon Your Major Definite Purpose

Of all your goals, one matters more than the others. Tracy calls it your Major Definite Purpose — the single goal that, if achieved, would do more to improve your life than anything else. Find it. Once identified, organise your daily activities around it. Everything else becomes secondary.

"Your ability to set goals is the master skill of success. Goals unlock your positive mind and release ideas and energy for goal attainment. Without goals, you simply drift and flow on the currents of life. With goals, you fly like an arrow, straight and true to your target."

### 7. Analyze Your Beliefs

Your strongly held beliefs act as a filter for everything you perceive and everything you attempt. If you believe you cannot do something, you will not try, or you will sabotage the attempt. Catch self-limiting beliefs and question them directly: is this actually true, or is this a story I inherited and never examined? Act as if you already have the quality you want to develop. Behaviour shapes belief just as much as belief shapes behaviour.

### 8. Use the 3P Affirmation Formula

Tracy's affirmations are not wishful thinking — they are deliberate instructions from the conscious mind to the subconscious. Every affirmation must be Personal, Positive, and Present tense.

- Start with I — "I am confident, disciplined, and focused"
- State what you want, never what you want to avoid
- Speak it as already true — "I earn X per month"
- Morning ritual: "I like myself and I love my work" — repeat until you mean it

---

## Part Two — The 21-Chapter Action System

### Step 1. Start at the Beginning — Write It Down

Be ruthlessly specific. A wish is vague. A goal is precise, measurable, and time-bound.

"A goal is something distinctly different from a wish. It is clear, written, and specific. It can be quickly and easily described to another person. You can measure it, and you know when you have achieved it or not."

Spend five minutes every morning writing your 10 to 15 most important goals in the present tense as if already achieved. This single habit, done consistently, will change what you accomplish.

"Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines."

Also write your goals in the evening before sleep. Your subconscious then works on them overnight.

### Step 2. Measure Your Progress — Assess Your Starting Point

Know exactly where you are now. Be honest about the habits, relationships, and patterns that have produced your current results. You cannot navigate to a destination without knowing your starting point. Set intermediate milestones so you know whether you are on track. What gets measured gets improved.

### Step 3. Find Your Why — List Every Reason

For each goal, write every reason you want it. The strength of your motivation is proportional to the number and depth of your reasons. When obstacles appear — and they will — your reasons are what keep you moving.

"The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear."

### Step 4. Set a Deadline

A goal without a deadline has no urgency, no beginning, no end. Assign a specific date. If you miss it, set a new one immediately. The deadline is not a judgment — it is a mechanism for creating forward motion.

### Step 5. Remove the Roadblocks — Identify Your Biggest Obstacle

Ask: what is the one thing standing between me and this goal? In most cases the honest answer is internal — a habit, a fear, a skill gap, a belief. Find it and name it. Removing the primary obstacle typically unlocks progress faster than any other action.

"Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals."

### Step 6. Become an Expert in Your Field

The world pays exceptional rewards to people who are exceptionally good at what they do. Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning in your field. Read for one hour every day. Attend seminars. Listen to educational material when driving. Identify the one skill that, if you developed it to excellence, would have the greatest impact on your results — and work on it deliberately every day.

### Step 7. Associate with the Right People

You become like the people you spend most time with. Actively seek out people who are where you want to be, who are positive, goal-oriented, and ambitious. Reduce time with people who are negative, directionless, or who discourage your ambitions. Mentors and mastermind groups accelerate progress dramatically.

### Step 8. Make a Plan of Action — Apply the 6P Formula

"Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance."

Before you begin working toward any goal, write your plan on paper. Organise tasks by priority and sequence. Know what needs to happen before what else can happen. Every minute of planning saves ten minutes in execution.

- Write the plan before you begin, not during
- Prioritise ruthlessly — most important tasks first, always
- Review and adjust as you go, but keep moving

### Step 9. Manage Your Time Well

Time is your most precious and irreplaceable resource. Every minute spent on a low-value activity is a minute stolen from a high-value one. Apply the 80/20 rule constantly — 20% of your activities produce 80% of your results. Identify that 20% and protect time for it. Learn to say no to everything that does not move you toward your Major Definite Purpose.

"If what you are doing is not moving you toward your goals, then it is moving you away from them."

### Step 10. Review Your Goals Daily

Review your written goals every morning when you begin your day, and again every evening. Read them out loud. This daily review keeps your goals alive in your conscious mind and feeds them continuously into your subconscious, which works on them around the clock.

"When you rewrite and review your goals in the evening, your subconscious mind then has an opportunity to work on your goals all night long while you are sleeping."

### Step 11. Visualise Your Goals Continually

Create clear, vivid, emotional mental pictures of your goals as already achieved. See yourself in the picture. Feel the emotions of having accomplished it. The more sensorially rich and emotionally charged the mental image, the more powerfully it is accepted by the subconscious as an instruction. Combine visualisation with your 3P affirmations for maximum effect.

### Step 12. Activate Your Superconscious Mind

Tracy distinguishes three levels of mind: the conscious, the subconscious, and the superconscious. The superconscious is a higher creative intelligence that goes beyond ordinary thinking — the source of insight, intuition, sudden breakthroughs, and inspiration that arrives apparently from nowhere. It activates when you have a clear goal, intense desire, and a relaxed, optimistic mental state.

"Your superconscious mind operates best when you are in a mental state of calm, confident, relaxed expectation."

"Worry is a form of negative goal-setting."

To access it: write your goal clearly, affirm it, visualise it, then release it and get busy with action. The moment you stop straining after the answer and simply move forward, the superconscious delivers solutions.

### Step 13. Remain Flexible at All Times

Be absolutely clear about your goals and absolutely flexible about how you get there. The path from here to your goal is rarely the one you originally planned. New information arrives. Circumstances change. The person who insists on the original route when the road is blocked wastes time. The person who adjusts the method while holding firm to the destination keeps moving.

The only real question to ask about your current approach is: does it work? If yes, continue. If no, change something. There is no failure — only feedback.

"Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it."

### Step 14. Unlock Your Inborn Creativity — Mindstorming

You are more creative than you know. Creative ability is not fixed — it expands with use. Every problem contains a solution, and your mind is capable of generating it if given the right conditions.

The most powerful technique Tracy offers here is Mindstorming, also called the 20 Idea Method.

How to do it:

- Take a clean sheet of paper
- Write your goal or problem as a question at the top — specific and simple: "How can I double my income in the next twelve months?"
- Force yourself to write 20 answers to that question — without stopping, without judging
- Write each answer using the 3P Formula — personal, positive, present tense
- The first few answers will be obvious. The answers from 10 onwards will surprise you
- Take the best answer and act on it immediately

The discipline of generating 20 answers forces the mind past its comfortable, obvious responses into genuinely new territory. Do this for every major goal and every significant obstacle.

### Step 15. Do Something Every Day

The daily habit of action toward your goal is more important than the size of any single action. Something every day — however small — keeps momentum alive, signals to your subconscious that this goal is real and current, and compounds over time into results that seem extraordinary from the outside.

"Develop a sense of urgency. Get into the habit of moving fast on your goals."

### Step 16. Persist Until You Succeed

Every great achievement required persistence through setbacks, disappointments, and failures that most observers never see. Persistence is not stubbornness — it is the decision, made in advance, that you will not stop. Each time you persist through a difficulty you become stronger, more capable, and more certain that you will eventually succeed.

"Resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will never give up. Persistence is self-discipline in action."

"The only guarantee of failure is to stop."

---

## Daily Power Habits

These are the practical rituals that hold the whole system together.

Morning — write your goals in present tense, speak your 3P affirmations, spend two minutes visualising your most important goal as already achieved. This programs your entire day before anything external interferes.

Evening — rewrite your goals, plan tomorrow using the 6P formula, review your priority task list before you sleep. Your subconscious works on problems overnight.

Mindstorming session — whenever you face an obstacle or need new ideas, take 20 minutes and generate 20 written answers to a specific question. Act on the best one immediately.

Keep goals private — do not announce them before you have results. Telling people too early dissipates energy and invites discouragement.

Apply the 80/20 rule everywhere — 20% of your actions produce 80% of your results. Identify and protect that 20%.

[Eat the frog](/blog/eat-that-frog-by-brian-tracy) first — your hardest, most important task first every morning.

---

## Quotes Worth Keeping

"A goal is something distinctly different from a wish. It is clear, written, and specific. You can measure it, and you know when you have achieved it or not."

"Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines."

"You become what you think about most of the time. Your outer world ultimately becomes a reflection of your inner world."

"People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine."

"Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals."

"If what you are doing is not moving you toward your goals, then it is moving you away from them."

"Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it."

"The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers."

"Resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will never give up. Persistence is self-discipline in action."



Goals! by Brian Tracy


# Shape Up by Ryan Singer - Book Review

Shape Up is a game-changing book about product development written by Ryan Singer from Basecamp. The book presents a methodology for running software projects that focuses on shipping valuable features in defined time periods.

## Key Concepts

### The Problem with Traditional Agile
Traditional agile methodologies often lead to:
- Never-ending backlogs
- Constant pressure to estimate work accurately
- Teams feeling overwhelmed with too many priorities
- Stakeholders losing trust in delivery timelines

### Shape Up's Solution
Shape Up introduces a different approach:

1. **Fixed Time Periods**: Work is organized in 6-week cycles followed by 2-week cooldown periods
2. **Problem-Based Planning**: Instead of detailed requirements, teams work on solving specific problems
3. **Betting**: Stakeholders place bets on which projects will deliver the most value
4. **Scope Control**: Teams have the authority to adjust scope to fit the timeframe

## The Cycle Structure

### 6-Week Cycles
During the main cycle, teams focus on shipping defined features without interruption. The fixed timeframe creates natural constraints that force good decisions about scope and complexity.

### 2-Week Cooldowns
Cooldown periods are for:
- Bug fixes and maintenance
- Technical debt reduction
- Research and exploration for the next cycle
- Team improvement and learning

## Practical Implementation

### Appetite vs Estimates
Instead of detailed estimates, teams define their "appetite" - how much effort they're willing to invest in solving a problem. This approach:
- Removes the pressure of perfect estimation
- Encourages creative problem-solving
- Focuses on value delivery rather than task completion

### The Pitch Process
Project pitches include:
- The problem being solved
- Proposed solutions
- Success criteria
- Appetite level
- Potential risks

## My Takeaways

After implementing Shape Up principles, I've observed:

1. **Better Focus**: Teams concentrate on fewer things and deliver more value
2. **Improved Stakeholder Trust**: Predictable cycles build confidence in delivery
3. **Healthier Work Environment**: Cooldown periods prevent burnout
4. **Better Solutions**: Problem-based thinking leads to more creative solutions

## Who Should Read This Book

Shape Up is essential reading for:
- Product managers and product owners
- Engineering managers and team leads
- Startup founders and executives
- Anyone frustrated with traditional agile implementations

## Final Thoughts

Shape Up isn't just another methodology—it's a fundamental shift in how we think about software development. By focusing on problems instead of features, and using time as a constraint rather than a resource to optimize, we can build better products in healthier, more sustainable ways.

The book is well-written, practical, and filled with real examples from Basecamp's experience. Whether you're struggling with your current agile implementation or just looking for ways to improve your product development process, Shape Up provides valuable insights that can transform how your team works.

If you're also interested in the leadership side of running engineering teams, see [Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager](/blog/become-an-effective-software-engineering-manager).


Book review: Shape Up by Ryan Singer


# Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager - Book Review

Making the transition from individual contributor to engineering manager is one of the most challenging career moves in tech. This book provides a comprehensive guide for navigating this transformation successfully.

## The Transition Challenge

Moving from writing code to leading people requires a fundamental mindset shift. Many new managers make the mistake of trying to be the "best programmer on the team" when their real value comes from enabling others to do their best work.

## Key Areas Covered

### 1. Mindset Shift
The book emphasizes that engineering management isn't about being the most technical person in the room. Instead, it's about:
- Creating an environment where engineers can do their best work
- Removing obstacles and providing clear direction
- Developing talent and building strong teams
- Making strategic decisions that align with business goals

### 2. People Management
Effective people management involves:
- **1-on-1s**: Regular, meaningful conversations about career growth, challenges, and feedback
- **Performance Management**: Setting clear expectations and providing constructive feedback
- **Team Building**: Creating psychological safety and fostering collaboration
- **Conflict Resolution**: Addressing issues before they escalate

### 3. Technical Leadership
Even as managers, we need to maintain technical credibility:
- Understanding the technical challenges your team faces
- Making informed architectural decisions
- Balancing technical debt with feature delivery
- Staying current with technology trends

### 4. Project Management
The book covers practical approaches to:
- Roadmap planning and execution
- Resource allocation and team capacity
- Risk management and mitigation
- Stakeholder communication and expectation management

## Practical Frameworks

### The Manager's Calendar
Effective time management is crucial. The book suggests:
- **Strategic Time**: Planning, thinking, and decision-making
- **People Time**: 1-on-1s, team meetings, career discussions
- **Administrative Time**: Reporting, process management, coordination
- **Technical Time**: Code reviews, architecture discussions, staying current

### Feedback Frameworks
Giving and receiving feedback effectively:
- **SBI Model**: Situation-Behavior-Impact
- **Regular cadence**: Don't save feedback for performance reviews
- **Two-way communication**: Be open to feedback about your management style

## My Key Takeaways

### 1. Your Success = Your Team's Success
The most important realization is that as a manager, your success is measured by your team's achievements, not your individual contributions.

### 2. Context Switching is Real
Managing requires constant context switching between technical discussions, people issues, strategic planning, and administrative tasks. Building systems to handle this effectively is crucial.

### 3. Communication is Your Primary Tool
Clear communication becomes your most important skill. Whether it's setting expectations, giving feedback, or representing your team to stakeholders, effective communication drives everything.

### 4. Develop Your Leadership Style
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to management. The book encourages developing your authentic leadership style while learning from others' experiences.

## Common Pitfalls to Avoid

### 1. The Technical Crutch
Don't hide behind technical work when faced with difficult people decisions.

### 2. Being the Bottleneck
Avoid becoming the decision bottleneck for your team. Empower them to make decisions.

### 3. Neglecting Your Own Development
Focus on your team's growth, but don't forget to invest in your own development as a manager.

### 4. Isolation
Management can be lonely. Build networks with other managers and find mentors.

## Who Should Read This Book

This book is essential for:
- New engineering managers transitioning from IC roles
- Experienced managers looking to improve their practice
- Senior engineers considering management careers
- Engineering leaders wanting to build better management systems

## Final Thoughts

"Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager" provides a solid foundation for the challenging transition into engineering management. It balances theory with practical advice and real-world examples.

The book acknowledges that there's no perfect formula for management success, but it provides frameworks and approaches that can be adapted to different contexts and leadership styles.

For anyone making or considering the move into engineering management, this book is an invaluable resource that will help you navigate the challenges and build a successful management career.

If you're interested in the people side of leadership, see also [Coaching for Performance](/blog/coaching-for-performance) and [PRISM](/blog/prism) for understanding different working styles. For a fresh take on running software projects, check out [Shape Up](/blog/shape-up-book-review).


Book review: Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager


# Coaching for performance

Following are notes i took while reading this book at the beginning of 2023.

"Coaching for Performance" is definitely one of the top 5 professional books I have read in recent years. I would recommend it to everyone, regardless of their position within the company hierarchy. The core message of the book is to increase awareness of our daily responsibilities, enhance communication, and accomplish goals that benefit not only the organizations we are part of but also our personal well-being. The book emphasizes the importance of "being true to oneself and fully utilizing one's potential."

When reading this book I came across the diagram that visually shows how awareness and responsibility are keys to building high-performing organizations.

Additionally, the author suggests the various models used to scale up and grow companies have little value without the context of awareness and responsibility and the right intentions and skills to generate them (eg. through active listening and powerful questions).

Hence, if you manage teams or decide on how your company runs you might want to consider it to make a real positive impact that is based on human growth and dignity.

In the 1970s, tennis coach Timothy Gallwey developed a number of concepts which contributed to the development of coaching, including the importance of awareness of internal obstacles (our thoughts, feelings, and physical reactions, which are often self-created). Gallwey recognized the power of increased awareness in decreasing performance-limiting interference. You can read more about this in my post on [The Inner Game](/blog/inner-game). He stated:

Our Performance equals our potential minus interference (P = p - i)


Coaching for performance


# Book review: Genius Makers

I'm not a big fan of non-fiction books and I made an exception for it as it's a subject closely related to my day-to-day work.

What I enjoyed is the fact that easy to read with a good tempo and gives you insight behind de scenes - at least this is my relative impression and I'm sure there are still many uncovered facts. Yet it keeps me intrigued and keen on finding out more about who was involved and what motivated them. Personally I score it 5/5

I don't think there is anything in particular that I don't like. If there was one thing I could request from the author would be to keep it up-to-date for the next years to come in the form of the appendix or new releases :) Who knows, maybe in a few years there will be a second part that will shed light on the current world situation (war in Ukraine, semiconductors race, COVID etc ) that shaped the state of AI.

To summarize it's a well-written report like a book that I'll be recommending it now to everyone. And I mean it. AI is having an impact on lives of all of us not only the IT sector, hence knowing a few facts about how it all started and developed over decades gives a better understanding of the current situation and key players on the stage.

[Direct link](https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Makers-Mavericks-Brought-Facebook/dp/1524742678)


Book review: Genius Makers


# Inner game

In the 1970s, tennis coach Timothy Gallwey developed a number of concepts which contributed to the development of coaching, including the importance of awareness of internal obstacles (our thoughts, feelings, and physical reactions, which are often self-created). Gallwey recognized the power of increased awareness in decreasing performance-limiting interference. He stated:


#book-review