Paulo André

About:

Paulo André is a tech coach and former engineering executive interested in leadership, complexity, and writing to explore and improve work practices.

Website:

hagakure.substack.com

Specializations:

Manager Engineering Executive Tech coach Former software developer

Interests:

Technology leadership Complexity Systems Psychology Neuroscience Engineering leadership

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2025-10-20 • chatgpt writing technology mental health coaching

The author reflects on their evolving relationship with ChatGPT, describing it as an integral part of their daily thinking process rather than just a tool. They outline various roles ChatGPT plays in their life, such as a life coa...

2025-07-18 • health leadership coaching personal development ai

The author discusses their journey of relearning coding and building a project called SwitchUp, inspired by their wife's experiences. SwitchUp aims to combine neuroscience-based coaching with AI to help individuals achieve their g...

2025-06-17 • engineering product management team structure ai

The text discusses the need for rethinking team structure to be truly AI-native, emphasizing the importance of early involvement of all team members, especially engineers, in the process. It highlights the shift from traditional l...

2025-06-12 • startup ecosystem ai technologies cto systems theory product design

The author reflects on his first year as CTO at Resquared, highlighting the challenges and changes he implemented to improve the product and engineering leadership, and the company's dynamics. He discusses the importance of buildi...

2025-01-27 • leadership startup software as a service (saas) clarity cto technical competence

The author shares his experience as a CTO of a SaaS startup, discussing the importance of creating clarity and developing competence to give control to the team. He emphasizes the need for clarity about values, principles, and mis...

2024-12-28 • leadership startup cto

The author shares their experience as a startup CTO, discussing the challenges and pressures of the role. They express a desire to share the real, unpolished experience of being in the thick of it, rather than providing how-tos an...

2024-07-13 • success leadership career development motivation

The author reflects on what success means in an executive role, emphasizing the importance of how people feel, the way results are achieved, and the impact of interactions between people on achieving results. The post discusses th...

2024-05-28 • management business leadership workplace culture

The text discusses the consequences of copying organizational structures from other companies without understanding the underlying values and principles. It uses the example of a company copying Spotify's structure and the negativ...

2024-05-09 • leadership neuroscience scarf model

The text discusses the concept of leading with the brain in mind, focusing on the intersection of neuroscience and leadership. It explores the SCARF model, which identifies social triggers that can generate approach and avoid resp...

2024-05-02 • leadership energy capability cognitive load kinetic and potential energy

The text discusses the role of leadership in a company and how it is to keep looking for where energy is stuck and find ways to get it moving again. It provides examples of how to do this, such as finding a person's switch, refram...

2024-04-25 • leadership career development engineering coaching

The text discusses the importance of coaching for engineering leadership, and how it can help leaders overcome challenges. It emphasizes the need for leaders to be more coach-like and highlights the benefits of coaching in terms o...

2024-04-10 • productivity scalar value knowledge management quality

The text discusses the concept of 'slow productivity' in knowledge work, arguing that doing fewer things does not mean achieving less. It explores the difficulty in defining and measuring productivity in knowledge work, and the pr...

2024-04-05 • leadership engineering job search and transition coaching

The author reflects on his journey as a coach and his decision to consider returning to an engineering leadership role. He discusses the challenges and growth he experienced, as well as his current approach to job searching and th...

2024-03-28 • management profit and loss relationship management population statistics human resources

The text discusses how the world prioritizes profit over people, as evidenced by the lack of genuine relationships, focus on technical skills in job interviews, and HR systems that depersonalize employees. It suggests that leaders...

2024-03-06 • technology industry startup junior developer

The text discusses the mistake of not hiring junior developers and the reasons behind it. It highlights the misconception that building technology is complicated, not complex, and the negative impact of not hiring juniors on techn...

2024-02-29 • experience belief working agreement

The text discusses the question 'Why don't you agree with me?' and how it can have infinite answers. It emphasizes the importance of understanding others' experiences and how they shape their beliefs. The author shares a personal ...

2023-10-05 • internet innovation leadership management principles growth mathematical constraints

The text discusses the power of having constraints and how being intentional about them is a big part of what leadership is about. It gives examples of how constraints can enable innovation and success, such as in the context of h...

2023-09-28 • leadership identity self-awareness impostor syndrome

The post discusses the author's personal journey from being a developer to an engineering manager and executive, and eventually a leadership coach. It delves into the author's struggles with identity, imposter syndrome, and the im...

2023-09-21 • management expected goals and points team management and development trust business value

The text discusses the importance of trust in business and the consequences of zero trust. It explores the impact of trust on business performance, the prevailing systems of management, and the consequences of not taking trust ser...

2023-09-17 • leadership self-determination consistency models linkedin

The author reflects on his experience of writing daily on LinkedIn and how lowering his standards has helped him to be consistent. He shares a profound quote from the Buddha and discusses the importance of having high standards wi...

2023-09-14 • technology systems theory

The author discusses the importance of complexity and systems in observing organizations and making work more enjoyable. They also talk about useful feedback loops, semantic versioning for teams, and the tension between individual...

2023-09-10 • leadership culture value creation

The author reflects on the challenges of the past week, including a bike accident, and shares principles for overcoming pain and achieving progress. They discuss the 'Flow Channel' and offer a challenge to leaders to help their te...

2023-09-07 • productivity management technology leadership engineering

The text discusses the author's diverse career experiences and how they have shaped his perspective. It delves into the recent McKinsey article and its rebuttals, highlighting the divide between tech and non-tech folks, and the la...

2023-09-03 • productivity leadership

The author reflects on the privilege and responsibility of being a leadership coach with a diverse client base. They also mention the raging debate around developer productivity and their intention to write about it later. The aut...