Matheus Lima

Of course!

Nobody Gets Promoted for Simplicity We reward complexity and ignore simplicity. In interviews, design reviews, and promotions. Here’s how to fix it.

You can't write a compelling promotion packet about the thing you didn't build. And that's the whole problem.

terriblesoftware.org/2026/03/03/n...

Why Am I Doing the Thinking for You? ‘What do you think?’ without a position isn’t a question — it’s a task assignment. State your opinion first. Let people react to something concrete.

"What do you think?" without sharing what YOU think isn't collaboration, but more like outsourcing cognitive work.

New post on why stating your position (even when uncertain) moves things forward faster.

terriblesoftware.org/2026/02/02/w...

Why I Still Write Code as an Engineering Manager I still code as an engineering manager. Not to stay busy, but to show my team what good looks like.

"I'm a manager now so I don't code anymore."

Is that because you genuinely can't, or because you've convinced yourself you shouldn't?

terriblesoftware.org/2026/01/22/w...

Here are the links:
- playlumi.app
- github.com/matheusml/lumi

Feel free to try it out with your kids as well, and tell me what they think of it!

I spent weeks looking for an iPad math app for my 6yo

Most of them were bad. Notifications, streaks, weird ads, systems designed to keep her hooked

So I decided to vibe code her something without any addictive shady patterns

She's been loving it, so I'm making it open source and sharing it

Life Happens at 1x Speed Why I stopped consuming content at 2x speed, and the simple rule that changed how I listen to everything.

I switched everything (podcasts, YouTube, audiobooks) to 1x speed.

New rule: if it's not worth consuming at 1x, it's not worth consuming at all.

terriblesoftware.org/2026/01/08/l...

Creating Your Own Opportunities The best career opportunities don’t necessarily come from your manager. They come from seeing potential in the boring work already on your plate.

"I want to grow, but my manager isn't giving me the right opportunities."

I hear this a lot. Here's the thing: even the best manager can only do so much. If you want growth, start creating your own opportunities.

terriblesoftware.org/2026/01/05/c...

A Year of Writing for Myself (That 230,000+ People Read) I started this blog about a year ago with pretty modest expectations. It started as a place to organize my thoughts on management, engineering, and everything else in between. I figured maybe a few…

January: "maybe a few people will read this"

Today: 230,000+ unique visitors, two #1 Hacker News posts, and a lot of emails from strangers

My (writing) year in review:
terriblesoftware.org/2025/12/29/a...

I wrote about AI and got backlash from an unexpected direction.

Engineers didn't argue AI would replace them; they argued it couldn't even write code. That's... concerning.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/12/19/t...

AI Can Write Your Code. It Can’t Do Your Job. The companies building AI are spending billions to acquire engineers, not replace them. Here’s why your job is safer than you think.

I've been thinking about what AI actually changes for software engineers, and what it doesn't.

Wrote some thoughts:

terriblesoftware.org/2025/12/11/a...

What Actually Makes You Senior The one skill that separates senior engineers from everyone else isn’t technical. It’s the ability to take ambiguous problems and make them concrete.Retry

The thing that actually makes you senior isn't architecture or communication or ownership. It's being the person who makes fuzzy things concrete.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/11/25/w...

“ChatGPT said this” Is Lazy When you paste ChatGPT’s response instead of your own feedback, you’re not being helpful. You’re being lazy and creating more work for everyone.

New post is out 🔥

If you're copy-pasting AI responses as code review feedback, you're not helping. You're just creating more work for everyone else.
Your teammates need YOUR thoughts, not ChatGPT's generic advice.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/10/24/c...

Thank you! 🙇

This is good stuff!

Stop Avoiding Politics Most engineers think workplace politics is dirty. They’re wrong. Refusing to play politics doesn’t make you noble; it makes you ineffective.

Politics isn't manipulation and backstabbing. It's understanding how decisions actually get made and learning to navigate that reality.

Refusing to engage doesn't make politics go away. It just means you lose by default.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/10/01/s...

The Balanced Engineer • Issue #34 Diving into Big O Notation, exploring AI content norms, and understanding the management skill that nobody talks about with content from Sam Rose, Sean Goedecke, and Matheus Lima!

ICYMI: this week's Balanced Engineer Newsletter has three articles to be a more balanced software engineer:

✨ An interactive overview of Big O Notation from @samwho.dev
✨ What shouldn't be written by AI from Sean Goedecke
✨ The management skill no one talks about from @terriblesoftware.org

Thank you! 🙇

The Management Skill Nobody Talks About “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen Let me tell you something that will happen after you become a manager: you’re going to mess u…

Read a parenting book recently (stay with me here) that completely changed how I think about management.

Turns out the most important skill isn't avoiding mistakes, it's what you do after making them.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/08/22/t...

"Be the pilot, not the turbulence."

Great parenting advice that's equally true for management.

This is a thought provoking, bite sized little piece that boils down to, "don't give feedback on EVERYTHING, because not everything matters! give feedback on things that have impact."

I think it's a *great* exercise for the feedback-giver to think through the impact they want their advice to have.

Would love your take on this one, @charity.wtf

Why Most Feedback Shouldn’t Exist Before giving feedback, ask yourself: is there measurable impact? Most manager feedback is just personal preference disguised as professional development. Stop policing personality.

How much of your feedback is actually about performance vs. personal preference?

If you can't point to specific impact, maybe the behavior that needs changing is yours.

terriblesoftware.org/2025/07/18/w...

What Doesn’t Change Why the faster tech evolves and AI advances, the more valuable computer science fundamentals become. Understanding principles beats chasing trends.

The faster tech changes, the more valuable the things that don't change become.

New post on why fundamentals matter more than ever:

terriblesoftware.org/2025/07/14/w...

Built a tiny zsh plugin that's been super helpful for me - converts natural language to shell commands.

Just 5KB, no dependencies. Would love feedback!

github.com/matheusml/zsh-ai

Why Engineers Hate Their Managers (And What to Do About It) Discover why engineers hate managers, the common management anti-patterns that destroy trust, and practical solutions from someone who’s been on both sides.

After 10+ years as an engineer, I became the thing I used to complain about: a manager.

Finally wrote about why this relationship is so broken (and how to fix it):

terriblesoftware.org/2025/06/24/w...

Good Engineer/Bad Engineer Why the best engineers aren’t always the smartest — and what separates engineers who ship from those who just code.

New post is out; I think you'll link this one!

terriblesoftware.org/2025/06/13/g...

When AI says, "You're absolutely right!", something bad usually follows

Duplication Is Not the Enemy We’re taught to eliminate duplication at all costs. But the wrong abstraction is far more expensive than a little copy-paste. Here’s why.

Fantastic explanation of the challenges of developing in a codebase over time

My fave line: “Every new requirement makes it slightly worse, but never quite bad enough to justify a complete rewrite.”

terriblesoftware.org/2025/05/28/d...

Thank you! 🙇