Software engineering today isn’t just about writing code.
It’s about surviving environments where code is treated as a magic wand—expected to fix broken processes, unclear requirements, missing access, and unrealistic timelines.
This series is about that reality.
Not the idealized “high-performing agile team” version.
The real one:
- Sprints that spill over before they even begin
- Tasks accepted despite knowing they’re impossible
- Meetings where context is missing but expectations are crystal clear
- Pressure to “just deliver” while the system underneath is still shaky In many workplaces, speed is celebrated louder than correctness. Documentation is optional. Ownership is blurry. And when something breaks, the conversation quietly shifts from “what went wrong?” to “who can we point at?”
This series isn’t about ranting.
It’s about survival patterns:
- How developers protect their sanity without becoming disengaged
- How to communicate risks without being labelled “slow”
- How to build reliability in systems that reward shortcuts
- How to document reality when verbal commitments are conveniently forgotten
Each article is short. Each one is drawn from lived experience.
Some days will be technical. Some will be psychological. Most will sit in the uncomfortable middle.
If you’ve ever felt that your real job description was “absorbing chaos with code”, this series is for you.
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