The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source DO repeat yourself! (Interview)
22 snips
Nov 12, 2025 
Sean Goedecke, a staff software engineer at GitHub and a prolific blogger, shares his views on the politics of engineering. He emphasizes the importance of senior engineers influencing organizational decisions and argues against worry-driven development. Goedecke also discusses the concept of 'good taste' in software, how AI agents are reshaping the industry, and why repeating core messages in blogging matters. With insights on reaching readers and handling criticism, he offers a thoughtful look into the intersection of coding, creativity, and communication.
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Write Opportunistically From Drafts
- Keep many short drafts and spin off full posts from interesting sentences you write in other drafts.
- Capture annoyances and curiosities as raw ideas and convert the good ones into publishable posts quickly.
Senior Engineers Must Influence Decisions
- Senior engineers should participate actively in organizational politics about technical direction and team processes.
- Represent confident technical judgments even when you feel uncertain because others rely on your position.
Bank Ideas, Deploy Them At The Right Time
- Keep a backlog of 10–15 brief project ideas and wait for the right organizational moment to propose them.
- Time your proposals to coincide with waves of interest so leaders can adopt and champion them.