30 Short Lessons on Adaptability Adaptability is a strange thing. It determines how far we rise in times of change, yet almost none of us are taught how to adapt. We’re rewarded for knowing the right answers but rarely for asking the right questions. We’re encouraged to stay the course but rarely to examine whether the course still makes sense. For most of my life, I thought adaptability meant being quick. Quick to respond, quick to pivot, quick to act. It turns out, that’s only a fraction of...
8 days ago • 5 min read
When network engineering gets hard (and it always does), most engineers retreat into one of two worlds Naive Optimism: The world where you tell yourself “AI won’t affect my role,” where every automation trend is overhyped and where the future feels safe because the past felt familiar. This mindset avoids the uncomfortable truth and clings to blind confidence. Hopeless Realism: The world where every advancement in AI feels like a threat, where every new automation tool signals your eventual...
15 days ago • 1 min read
The Tree Chopping Trap I’ve been thinking a lot about how network engineers spend their time, and I keep coming back to this metaphor that perfectly captures what I see happening across the industry. Most of us are stuck chopping down trees. Let me explain what I mean. Your day looks something like this: alerts flooding your monitoring system. A switch that’s reached end-of-life but still works fine. Other teams ask why their application is slow. Your inbox has 247 unread messages. Your Slack...
22 days ago • 3 min read
7 Lessons from Warren Buffets’ Final Letter As network engineers, we often think in terms of packets, uptime, redundancy, and scalability. But leadership lessons don’t just come from tech, they come from everywhere, even the investing world. Warren Buffett’s November 10, 2025 thanksgiving letter (his final one as CEO) offers timeless wisdom, and many of his insights map surprisingly well to how we build and operate networks. Here are 7 lessons we can apply. 1. Be Humble About Luck Buffett...
29 days ago • 3 min read
What Are You Permitting That's Preventing Your Progress? I’ve often thought there are really two ways to improve your career as a network engineer: Add a Positive: Learn a new protocol, get a certification, build a new system. Remove a Negative: Stop tolerating outdated processes, toxic coworkers, or inefficient workflows. Most of us automatically default to the former and ignore the latter. We’re conditioned to believe that career growth means doing more. More tools. More scripts. More...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Everyone’s talking about AI tools right now. Prompt engineering. Tool stacks. Certifications. It’s noisy. It’s overwhelming. And it’s missing the point. Here’s a truth I’ve learned from working with AI : Tools change. Fundamentals don’t. If you want to build a business that survives the next decade not just the next product cycle, you need to invest in timeless, human-first skills. Skills that AI can’t replicate. Skills that amplify your thinking, not just your output. Here are the three I...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Can you believe we're already halfway through 2025? 🎉 Time flies when you're making an impact! As June draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to connect with you. Your commitment to staying informed and engaged with our newsletter community has been incredible, and there's still so much exciting ground to cover in the months ahead. Before we leap into July, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss any of this month's most valuable insights. If you haven't had a chance yet, grab your...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Why This Playbook Matters You want to get things done but Slack pings, YouTube rabbit holes, and endless browser tabs keep hijacking your time. Focus shouldn't rely on willpower. This playbook helps you automate discipline using a Deep Work Scheduler. With just a few tools, you’ll auto-schedule focus time, block distractions, and log your output. You’ll feel less busy and actually get more done. Implementation Guide Step 1: Schedule Deep Work on Google Calendar Objective: Set aside blocks of...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Why This Playbook Matters You don’t need to be a professional writer to write like one. Most people focus on getting the words out.But the pros shape the words to get results. This playbook will walk you through using ProWritingAid to analyze and improve your writing based on readability, clarity, tone, and more without needing an English degree. It’s writing… tuned for customer experience. Implementation Guide Step 1: Sign Up and Upload Your Text Objective: Get into the ProWritingAid editor...
6 months ago • 1 min read