Learn the unusual skills of highly effective engineers

Know what to harness and grow

Everyone agrees on what makes a good engineer: smart, analytical, logical. Sure, all true. But also... kind of dry. There’s a whole set of unspoken skills that actually elevate engineers to the next level. And they’re often overlooked, too.

So, let’s talk about the fun stuff. The weird stuff. The real difference-makers.

Oh, and before we dive in: we’ve got a little subscriber chat going in the Substack app. One thread a day, nothing messy. It’s like watercooler talk with sharp minds. Come hang.

Creative

We’ve tried everything!! Now what?! Now we hack…

Creativity doesn’t always look like drawing beautiful diagrams or inventing new frameworks. In engineering, it often means duct-taping three semi-functional APIs together and, accidentally, inventing a platform.

In our world, “creative” and “resourceful” are basically synonyms. You become resourceful when you’re forced to navigate tight constraints such as limited time, broken tools, unclear requirements…and you still find a path forward.

Effective engineers are constantly doing this. Saving budget with clever hacks. Building prototypes in odd ways to prove a concept. Turning constraints into launchpads. That’s real-world creativity and it’s a superpower.

Disagreeable

Can we delay it for v2? (fully aware that the v2 is never arriving)

Some of the best engineers I’ve worked with are, well... a little stubborn. Not in a toxic way but in a grounded, principled way.

They speak up when something feels wrong. They push back when a decision doesn’t make sense. They challenge scope, design, and direction. And thank goodness they do.

Being constructively disagreeable is a strength. These engineers act as anchors in chaotic environments. They’re the ones asking:

• “Why are we building this?”

• “Is this a real problem, or just a temporary discomfort?”

• “What happens if we just... don’t?”

To be clear: this isn’t about arguing for the sake of it. It’s about caring enough to challenge assumptions. But, and this is key, disagreeing without experience or context just creates noise. Early on, it’s better to focus on questioning over opposing.

Bias for action

High agency. Always.

Bias for action is one of the most important characteristics I’ve seen in great engineers. And honestly, in fulfilled people, too.

At a certain point, you learn that most projects don’t move unless someone decides to make a move. We wait for clarity, alignment, resources, etc. But often, the catalyst is just someone stepping up and doing the thing.

Surprisingly, the most senior engineers often resemble beginners, they just make decisions with more context. They act, experiment, ship. They unblock the team by leaning in.

Do it thoughtfully, not recklessly. But do it. That momentum is gold.

Supercommunicators

Or just a half-decent one.

Great engineers don’t just write clean code. They write clean Slack messages, docs, PRs, and status updates. They make knowledge portable. Understandable. Trustworthy.

This is a huge blind spot for many otherwise talented engineers. They don’t invest in communication, not realizing how much it's holding them back.

Strong communicators give context, listen well, ask great questions, and translate technical complexity into product insight. They’re easy to work with, even under pressure. And because of that, they build trust.

Want to lead someday? Start here. You don’t get trusted with a team unless you’ve shown you can communicate with one.

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Perseverance

Sometimes, the job is just staying in the fight.

At higher levels, your job is mostly solving hard, messy problems. The kind that don’t have clear answers, and definitely don’t have quick fixes. The engineers who thrive aren’t necessarily the smartest or fastest, they just stick with it longer.

Perseverance isn’t glamorous, but it’s powerful. It’s what gets you through the problems everyone else gave up on. And often, those are the ones that matter most to the business.

Staying power is a signal. It tells people they can count on you when things get complicated. And they will. Oh, they will.

Be the engineer that is able to stick around in the sewers. So long that you can’t even smell it anymore.

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The takeaways

• Creativity ≠ fluff
  Being resourceful is often more valuable than being rigorous. Scrappy solutions ship products.

• Constructive disagreement is a feature, not a bug
  High performers challenge assumptions, ask tough questions, and act as reality checks for teams.

• Bias for action wins
  Progress depends on someone stepping forward. Be that person. Carefully, but boldly.

• Communication scales trust
  Clear writing and speaking make you more effective, more promotable, and more respected.

• Perseverance is underrated
  Great engineers don’t always solve problems faster. They just don’t give up when it gets hard.