"When an engineer becomes a lead or a manager, they create a professional satisfaction gap. They’ve observed this gap long before they became a lead with the question: “What does my boss do all day? I see him running around like something is on fire, but… what does he actually do?” The question gets personal when the now freshly minted manager begins to understand that life as a lead is an endless list of little things that collectively keep you busy, but, in aggregate, don’t feel much like progress.

The positive feedback an engineer receives in the Zone is the sensation that you literally performed magic. From the complete problem set in your mind combined with your weapons-grade focus, you build a thing that you immediately recognize as disproportionately valuable. And you see this value instantaneously - that’s the high.

I believe that leads and managers are forever chasing the high associated with the Zone, but rarely achieve them because their job responsibilities are in direct contradiction to the requirements to achieve it. We often lack the time to have the intimate knowledge of a problem space because we rarely have 10-15 minutes free to consider it."

"That’s the way it has to work in a knowledge organization. You don’t build a startup with one big gigantic brain on the top, and a bunch of lesser brains obeying orders down below. You try to get everyone to have a gigantic brain in their area, and you provide a minimum amount of administrative support to keep them humming along."

Rands' advice for what to do when you realize the sky is falling on your head.

"This is why I say priorities can only be observed. In my book, a priority is not simply a good idea; it’s a condition of reality that, when observed, causes you to reject every other thing in the universe — real, imagined, or prospective — in order to ensure that things related to the priority stay alive."

Great post about the benefits and downsides to working from home.

"There are so many productivity tools and philosophies out there, but it ultimately comes down to our own inner compass and ability to stay on track with whatever we are doing. And the key to that is the ability to be aware."

What will happen to large, incumbent brands as they struggle with finding software engineers to solve their most critical problems.

Perhaps one monitor is all you really need.

Great insight into an off-site by Rands.

Jason Fried writes about how 37signals manages conflict.

"Our problem is not that we don't have enough stuff -- it's that we don't have enough ways for people to work and prove that they deserve this stuff."

"But what is clear to me is that prosocial incentives, either in the form of charitable donations or team expenditures, can be an effective means of encouraging more positive behavior for the individual, their teammate and for society."

Rands writes about the full screen and desktop transition changes in Lion.

Great article about the benefits and best practices of working remotely.

Another solid essay from Rands on motivation, boredom, and why managers should keep coding.

"These days, marketers have more tools to connect with customers than our elected leaders have to connect with citizens. (Insert ThinkUp plug here.) Individuals know less about what public information is available about themselves online than big companies do. Still, geeks are still debating the details of systems to organize our email."

"Fulfilling a sense of obligation isn’t a substitute for actual unqualified happiness, and it’s certainly not a recipe for good work."

Rands writes about how to handle people you have a fundamental communication disconnect with.

Really interesting interview with David Karp about how he works.

Scott Berkun shares some wise words about how to approach the future after college.

"I have a theory, and I may be wrong, but I’m willing to bet that the 15% who do get a job out of college are not necessarily the smartest kids out there; they are the ones who are the most passionate and committed to the life’s work they know in their hearts they were meant to do."

Joe Hewitt is leaving Facebook and writes about what is next for him.

Rands writes about how the summer internship game works.

"It’s about redefining passion. Instead of working with a thing you love, think about how to work in a way you love."

A short essay chock full of win from 37signals.

37signals talks with Jim Coudal about the founding, growing pains, and success of Coudal Partners. A wonderfully honest interview by Jim Coudal.

Seth Godin argues for a two device solution. It frees you up to actually get work done.

Ryan Irelan at Happy Cog writes about the challenges of working remotely and how he handles everything.

You can learn a lot by being part of an awesome team.

"You might very well be doing a good job. But that doesn't mean you're a linchpin, the one we'll miss. For that, you have to stop thinking about the job and start thinking about your platform, your point of view and your mission."

Only when things are "dead" can the real work begin. Work that matters happens outside of view from the drive-by technorati.

You can hire people from your friend's company but it may jeopardize that friendship.

Cool essay about work and what it means to Jeffrey Essmann.

"It’s different if someone asks for my help. That I’m happy to give. But I’m done with evangelism for any of my enthusiasms...

I’m far too busy just taking care of my own business."

Daniel Jalkut's riff on Mule Design's story about hiring and working for the right clients.

If you like your project manager, this is a list of things not to do. But if they really deserve it, here are proven ways to drive them mad.

When you're running a bootstrapped company you should hire for the moment and look in your network for great people.

"If I want to get hired to do something, I should already be doing it. People can’t always see potential energy. Instead of allowing a current job description to stand in the way, turn off the Scrubs re-runs and start a side-project. Draw a picture, code a site, or write something and share it with the internet."

"These habits are designed to create unexpected moments with Signal. Each moment with Signal is a moment that you’re killing the Noise and they exist so you remember what it feels like to care rather than just do."

Rands' tips for managing nerds in the workplace.

"In my experience, most people don’t schedule their work. They schedule the interruptions that prevent their work from happening. In the case of a business like ours, what clients pay us to make and do happens in the cracks between meetings, or worse, after business hours."

Cameron Moll's reflections on his first 12 months as a freelance designer.

What the Times fails to ask is how many of these unemployed tech sector people are only looking for jobs in their current location.

37 Signals built a customer-focused app in 24 hours. Pretty cool end result.

Interesting model for an outdoor office.

Both workers and customers are frustrated with the lack of customer service.

"So try an experiment. For the next seven days, go monolingual and speak only human at work. Don’t say anything to your boss, your staff, your teammate, your supplier or your customer that you wouldn’t say to your spouse or your friend."

Khoi Vinh announces his resignation for the New York Times. Very interesting move and will be intriguing to see where he lands next.

"There are studies that show connecting to the internet changes our brains. And getting feedback is how we learn. Maybe all the sharing we do online is actually accelerating the learning curve. What if, once we connect online, we can actually lower that number even more? What if the tradeoff is between keeping the early embarrassing work private, and getting better at your new skill faster in public?"

A great article from "A List Apart" that explains some of the ways in which you can create habit fields when working from home.

Jeff Atwood details his experience with working remotely on Stack Overflow. Full of some tips and tricks.

Sometimes even the most detail oriented people (i.e. Project Managers) like to put control in someone else's hands.