Systems before teams: why plans matter

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What if your team's biggest problem isn't talent, it's the rules you've never written down?



In this episode, I'm talking with Gerald Chablowski, a lead developer based in Thailand whose journey from archaeology and history into tech leadership gives him a very human lens on engineering. I’m drawn to the way he thinks less about shiny tools and more about how people organize themselves, how rules get explained, and how work actually feels. His experience leading teams across different countries and cultures makes him obsessed with one question: what happens when we use structure to protect humans instead of control them.

Too many engineering teams are playing a game where nobody can see the rulebook, then wondering why everything feels chaotic. Here we get brutally honest about what happens when goals change every week, when leaders “delegate” but still pull every string, and when trust gets treated like a slogan instead of something you earn in tiny daily moments. You’ll hear how simple constraints like clear rules, small pull requests, and real documentation can unlock creativity instead of killing it, especially in environments where people are scared to challenge the plan.

You’ll Learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[03:48] Why tech only matters when it serves people, not the other way around

[06:19] What happens when a team works without clear rules or shared understanding

[09:14] The reason trust is built through tiny daily behavior, not speeches or titles

[11:47] How unclear systems force developers into chaos even when rules technically exist

[14:52] Why documentation becomes leverage when knowledge needs to outlive individuals

[17:01] The leadership mistake that made a senior dev refuse to work with him

[23:08] What learning hard physical skills teaches about leadership discomfort

[28:19] How asking people to rewrite a task in their own words exposes hidden gaps fast

[34:22] Why tiny pull requests transform code quality when systems enforce them

[42:08] How relying on juniors teaches humility and system thinking faster than doing it all yourself

You can connect with Gerald and his work on his LinkedIn.

Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.