Matt Schouten

Thoughts on building people, software, and systems.

Month: January 2025

  • Make it Sound Good: Expectations and Agency

    Some years ago, I was asked to step into a leadership role of a skilled technical team in an organization undergoing high-level changes in vision and approach. The changes would require the team to do their jobs much differently than they had in the past, with different and higher standards. That’s how I ended up…

  • Flyover Software

    I live in Iowa,1 a mostly-rectangular state in approximately the middle of the United States.2 I grew up in Wisconsin, a lumpy state in the north central United States.3 Both states are about as far from the coasts of the United States as you can get and still be in the lower 48 states. Both…

  • Prioritizing Means You Must Say No

    There is a simple activity called “prioritization” that is often misunderstood and done wrongly, in a way that causes confusion and frustration. Not just for you and your team, but for everyone that depends on you. The way I’ve most often seen prioritization done in real companies is to write down all of the things…