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-tell
Referenced video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ
Thursday 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