AI is blurring the boundaries between engineering, product and design. Specialization still matters and your primary position still matters, but the baseline skill level across disciplines is compressing fast.
A top-tier PM should be able to make basic product changes. A top-tier designer should be able to build working prototypes on a git branch. A top-tier engineer should be able to reason about product and design.
A great athlete has a position, but can still play elsewhere when the team needs it. That is the level of agility we want.
Imagine everyone sitting in a circle. Snap your fingers and everyone moves one seat to the left. The work should keep moving.
That requires high agency. It also requires infrastructure that makes switching positions cheap, and processes designed around the team instead of copied from someone else's playbook. We talk about both elsewhere.
Train like an athlete
Professional sports have seasons. Our on-season is when we are working toward a meaningful release. Focus goes up, intensity goes up and everyone does what is needed to ship.
Then comes a short off-season. Reset, fix bugs, pay down debt, improve the system, learn and recover. Then we compete again.
The goal is not permanent intensity. You cannot play a championship game every day. The goal is to be capable of intensity when it matters.
Design your life
We do not believe much in trying to build hard walls between work and life. Family matters. Work matters. Rest matters. Growth often hurts.
We trust people to know when work should come first, when family should come first and when they simply need a break. Build a life you actually want to live.
Have something outside of work that challenges you. Across the team that might be competitive mountain biking, triathlons, running, sailing, long-range shooting, go-kart racing, flying, building rockets, powerlifting or something completely different.
If you do not have that thing yet, explore. Talk to people on the team. Try things. Find something that makes you a beginner again.